


A star and a wish, a crib and a baby

by Aliasprick



Series: When Ash is 25 [4]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2020-06-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:00:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 22,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24077122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aliasprick/pseuds/Aliasprick
Summary: A wish was made, under the night sky, while on their journey to the Tree of Beginning.And it came true.
Relationships: Gou | Goh/Satoshi | Ash Ketchum
Series: When Ash is 25 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1733797
Comments: 6
Kudos: 99
Collections: Late Start





	1. Jirachi, the wishgiver

"Is it genetic?" Gou asked abruptly at the dining table. It was Wednesday morning and it was the only thing on his mind. They had been talking about it since the night before - this aura thing that connects Ash and Riolu and he had been itching to know how it worked. 

"I'm not sure. I don't know how it came about", Ash said, continuing his explanation, "But I only know about it because a special Lucario explained it to me". 

"A special Lucario explained it to you? That's kinda specific and mysterious", Gou said, rubbing his chin as he thought about the hinted details. "You knew about the aura even before Riolu hatched and you knew it from a Lucario. Sounds legitimately like a fantasy novel kinda stuff". 

"It's hard to believe, I know but it's real". 

"So how did you get to know about it?" 

"I was told by Lucario during my adventure at the Tree of Beginning". 

"The Tree of Beginning? Is that even a real place? It's not on the internet". Gou searched through the browser for information about the tree but found nothing. 

Then, this must be something unknown to a lot of people. 

Ash shivered when Gou's lips twitched upwards. He was wearing the look again - the look of excitement of learning a new knowledge. 

"I like that face. Keep it on for too long and I might have you for lunch instead", Ash winked suggestively at him. 

Gou snorted, "One, you need food or you'll go hungry and lethargic and we won't get anything done. Two, keep your libido in check because it's too early for snack time".

"I get hungry very fast". 

"Well you need to feed me too. Brainy food. So come on, what's the place called?" 

Ash chuckled again when Gou pouted indignantly. His impatience was really showing, Ash noted. 

"Alright, alright. Cameran Palace, beyond Mountain Moon in Kanto. That's where the Tree of Beginning is and I've journeyed there before", said Ash, waving his spoon as he spoke. 

"Beyond Mountain Moon…. Cameran Palace… The Kingdom of Rota? Isn't that like the royalty place with that dress up festival?" 

"Well, you can put it that way…" 

At that very moment, attending the event might not be such a bad idea. Ash looked thoughtful and checked his Rotom phone calendar for the festival date. It'd happen in two weeks, the annual event that allows them to enter the kingdom. It might be nice to spend some time as tourists. They had been working hard for the entire year and they hadn't been on vacation for a while. Some quality time was in due diligence but knowing Gou, this would hardly turn into a relaxing vacation. 

Or was it knowing himself? Then again, they were two peas in a pod. It's hard to believe that either of them had yet to propose marriage when they had been together for so long. 

"We can only go there once a year and the festival is around the corner but you need to bear with my driving", Ash said after deciding that a roadtrip is the best way to go. 

"... Can't we just take our pokemon? I can get Pidgeot to fly me there instead of sitting in a jeep as a passenger".

"Well, it'll be a long journey even for the pokemon and we still need to go through the immigration checkpoint. Also, knowing you, we'll have to carry a bunch of equipment". 

Gou propped his chin on his hand and tilted it sideways as he smiled sweetly. His boyfriend really knew a lot about him, his quirks and habits. 

He couldn't help but to throw praises in. He still didn't like the idea of taking the jeep though but he would work with it. 

"You know me so well, Mr. Ketchum. You know me so well". 

\---------

Gou concluded that this journey was some rocky mountain hiking thingy and he would not question it why Ash ended up beefier than his skinny self. 

Well he wasn't exactly skinny but transportations link had been great in the years he started his journey. Everything was so convenient when he started going places. Therefore he lacked of passion thereof for moving around by foot alone. 

"Is this why you've brought Gengar with us? To carry the jeep?" asked Gou while reaching out for Ash's hand to be pulled upwards. Above them, Gengar was drifting through the sky with a floating jeep next to it. It seemed to enjoy rocking the jeep a little too much - he hoped the equipment would be alright. 

"Tell Gengar to be careful", Gou whimpered when he saw the jeep tilting in an impossible angle. 

"Hey Gengar, carry the jeep flatly!" 

"Gengar!" the ghost type replied and made the jeep stayed upright always and carefully raised it to the peak of the hill they were climbing. 

"Well done, Gengar!" Gou praised and Gengar giggled. 

"There you go. Gengar carrying the jeep for us to maneuver through the rocky mountain. He's a good pokemon and he'll do stuffs carefully", Ash said, pulling Gou upwards when they reached a part that was too tough for Gou to cross. Gou carefully jumped step on the ridge, swallowing when he watched a stone went down the cliff. 

He glared at Ash. "I know he's the good one. But why did you decide on this? Why are we mountain climbing and not in the car? Gengar can carry us too right? Or better yet, why don't we ride Corviknight through this?" 

"You didn't bring Corviknight with you this time", Ash reminded him. 

"You could've warned me about these… (gulp) deadly cliffs!" Gou huffed. 

Midway, they stopped to take a break, a break that Gou hardly called relaxing considering they were hanging on a wire hundred feets above the ocean floor. He kept his eyes shut to stop the fear from eating him. 

"Come on. Loosen up and turn around", Ash said, nodding to their back. 

"I'm too scared to even look", Gou shivered at the thought of looking around at the altitude they were stuck in, holding on tightly to the climbing nail and a boulder. 

"Alright", Ash hammered a pin to the rock. He secured another pin on Gou's rope, tugging a little to check the binding. Once he was sure it was strong enough to hold their weight, he changed his position to face outside, then wrapped his arms around Gou's waist, pulling him until Gou's back was against his chest. 

Throughout the entire process, Gou was screaming bloody murder at Ash for being a jerk, for taking him out of his comfort zone. He shut his eyes tightly, too scared to even look at what's in front of him. 

"Come on Gou. You won't see it if you close your eyes tightly like that", said Ash, coaxing the other to open them. 

"N-Nope!!! Is this important?!!!!" 

"I got you. We won't fall".

"No no no no!" 

"Why? You can ride a dragonite, Lugia, Corviknight so you should be able to see this". 

"It's different!" 

"How is it different?" 

"Because right now I don't have a pokemon to catch me if I fall!" 

"But you have me right?" Ash whispered softly in his ears to calm Gou down. "Do you trust me that I will catch you if you fall?" 

Gou hesitated but he nodded slowly. 

"Then trust me. I want to share with you the view I saw when I first got here", said Ash. 

"P-Promise you won't let go?" 

"I promise". 

Peeking through slowly, picturesque view of the clear sky and widespread forest took his breath away. He felt the gentle breeze and watched the flock of bird pokemons soared. 

"The mountain is beautiful", he said in amazement. 

"Isn't it? I used to see all this without climbing gears", Ash said, hugging Gou closely and rested his chin on the shoulder. 

"Really?" 

"Yup but I love you enough to care for your safety". 

"Idiot. You should take care of yourself too". 

After a while of silence, Gou spoke, "I can't tell if this is crazy or romantic". 

"It's crazy romantic". 

"You would like to believe that you're a sap. Anyway… how long do you plan to stay like this?" 

"Until I'm satisfied. Plus, with your squirming, it's quite hard not to get a boner. Do you want to try doing it here?" 

"NO! NO THANK YOU!" 

\------------

Ash set the campfire while Gou prepared the sausages they've packed for dinner. The pokemon was eating their pellets. He took a picture of the marinated sausages and posted the image online using the satellite net. 

"#campfire. #jerkboyfriend. #bestdateever", He added the tags onto his post and clicked send. 

"Do you want some marshmallows?" Ash shouted from the back of the jeep after successfully igniting the fire. . 

"Would love some!" he shouted back. 

"Okay!!" 

Now this whole thing really felt like a domestic relationship. Gou laughed to himself as he thought about how they would still do the same thing even if they were married (cause he already felt like a spouse). Except maybe they would have children with them. Playing and helping them prepared the food, maybe bickered a little. 

The thoughts of having children with Ash made him flustered and he tried to wipe the thoughts away. 

"Hmmm?" Gou almost jumped when Ash was staring at his face studiously. 

"Could've given me a little warning!" Gou scolded, pushing gently at Ash's face to give distance. 

"Why are you red here?" Ash poked Gou's cheeks playfully. 

"Nothing?!!" he evaded the question and grabbed the Marshmallow bag from Ash's other hand. 

"Come on. Hm… Maybe you couldn't tell me because you were thinking about somebody else?" 

"Hey, you know you're the only person I'd put up with", Gou pouted at the accusation. He knew that Ash was just teasing him as the other laughed and hugged him from behind. 

"I'm flattered to know that". 

"But you were asking". 

"Yep". 

"And we don't keep secrets anymore. We talk about everything and discuss about absolutely everything".

He won't repeat the same mistake he'd made during the event on New Island. 

"That's also a yep", Ash nodded and relaxed his head on Gou's shoulder. Gou leaned into the hug, enjoying the warmth in such a cold night. 

"Okay, I'll tell you what I was daydreaming about", Gou said as he opened the marshmallow bag. 

"I'd like that". 

"I was imagining how it would be merrier if we camp like this, not just with Pokemon but with children". 

He felt Ash quivered in delight and pulled him closer. 

"I'd love that".

"Do you think we are ready for something like that?" 

"I'm always ready and I'm sure you feel the same too".

"I feel like we can take a step forward", Gou said, sticking the marshmallow onto the grill stick.

"Alright", Ash agreed. 

"Hm?" 

"If you feel that way, then I'd like to be promoted to become your husband. I mean I think I have an excellent resume, emotionally and physically and I'm definitely the only one for that job", Ash squeezed his boyfriend's waist and Gou could feel that Ash was feeling a little nervous. 

He put down the grill stick and took Ash's hand, spinning around to look into the other's eyes. 

"You're hired for that position, my research fellow boyfriend cum soon to be a husband of mine", he sealed the deal with a peck on the lips. It left Ash flabbergasted and then his eyes shone as if he had just had the happiest day in his life. 

Technically, he did and Ash was on cloud nine. 

He clasped their hands together. "Let's have that family you were dreaming of. We make it real for us". 

Above them, a shooting star passed except the shooting star wasn't really a shooting star. 

A small voice giggled at the wish made. 

"Jirachi!"


	2. An uncalled blessing

"Where am I?" The last thing Aaron remembered was giving his aura to Mew to save the tree of beginning. Wherever he was in now, he felt weak, as if his existence was there, his soul was there but all he wanted was a deep, uninterrupted sleep. 

It was like he was covered in a fluid, a fluid that felt warm but not enough to sustain his cold body and so his body warmth erratically changed. In the dark, he could hear a tiny voice speaking to him. 

"Hero Aaron, it's almost time for you to wake up from your sleep. You've been confined within the tree life spring for so long that your life source must be returned to the surface". 

"Is the world troubled by war? Is there turbulence that needs my assistance to stop them?" 

"You simply exist to bring equilibrium and you must be returned to sustain the equilibrium. One death must be replaced by one birth. And so it was almost your turn. 

For the great deed, you've given us continuation and for that, we have selected for you your birth parents. A chosen one from the chosen ones, a gift to one another". 

"Will I be born again?" asked Aaron, confused at the voice explanation. 

"Your time will come", it answered mysteriously. 

Then it stopped talking and Aaron was once again returned to darkness. 

Soon he fell into another deep slumber. Veins from the tree wrapped around him, supplying him with nutrients to grow but he was still lacking one thing that would wake him from his deep slumber. 

The life sources to bring him back to life. 

\----------------

Gou and Ash were walking on a crossing bridge, glued to each other as they followed the crowd to the palace gate. Pikachu and Cinderace excitedly encircled them, with Pikachu telling Cinderace how there was a playroom in the castle that not many knew about. 

When the cloud covering the view started to clear, Ash pulled Gou to the brick parapet and drew a finger towards a small dot between the clouds. 

"Do you see that?" he asked. 

"Where?" 

"There's a small grey dot. Can you see it?"

"I can't see anything", but Gou had an idea. He opened the camera application and let Ash capture it, the thing that he saw. Thanks to the ultra lenses, he could now resize the image without losing the detail. 

And there it was, the peak of a mountain that strangely resembled a tree. "Is it a real tree though?" he asked in awe. 

"That's the tree of beginning. It's a stone structure resembling a tree", Ash said and told him how its history is connected to this palace as they walked into the palace. Giddy visitors were already queuing at the registration booth where ticket purchases can be done there. 

Ash looked around for the ticket redemption counter and went to claim his online purchases. They were gifted with the costume coupons and an invite to tour the palace after hours. Ash took them and the two looked around for signs to the costume room. 

When they arrived, there were quite a number of visitors in the line and each of them were given 30 minutes to choose and change. When it was their turn, Ash easily picked out the same costume he had worn before while Gou chose a knight to the queen costume and pranced around Sir Ketchum. 

"How do I look?" 

"Like a strong opponent who desired to win. I like the leggings by the way. How do I look?" 

"Like a handsome man who deserved all the love in the world". 

"From who?" Ash smirked but played his oblivious card anyway. 

"From this man in leggings of course", said Gou, "and by the way, we have five more minutes. We should get going". 

"Five minutes is plentiful. Do you want to do something else?" 

Gou had 'seriously?' written all over his face but snorted at Ash and shook his head. They really needed to work on the time and place and drilled it deep in Ash's brain. 

And he also learned how to be evasive in the course of their relationship. Looking at his watch, he whistled. 

"Look at that, we're down to two minutes. Let's watch the tournament", Gou dragged Ash to the exit which garnered some interested crowd attention on their way out. The tournament was held in the palace courtyard and the two cheered, putting dips on who the winner would be for each round. 

When the tournament was over, the champion was celebrated at a ball and the couple released their smaller pokemon out to play. They were having tonnes of fun and Ash wanted to show him the painting that had Lucario inside it. 

"I want to show you the special Lucario I was talking about", said Ash. The painting was the biggest one in the whole ballroom and as they stood in front of it, Ash started to notice something different about it. 

"The painting… It's fading out". 

"The painting has been like that for two days", a caretaker chipped in and approached them. "Lady Aileen is concerned as well". 

Ash knew the caretaker the moment he saw her but kept the knowledge to himself. The lady who was stern on him looked older now with her creases showing her age. 

The duchess of the palace was busy accompanying the guests, they noted. Seemingly interested, Gou asked further, "Is this the painting of the hero, Sir Aaron?" 

"Yes", she replied and then recognition sunk in when she saw Ash. 

"You are that boy!" she said. 

"Yeah, that's me!" Ash grinned toothily. 

"It has been a while, Sir Ash. And who might you be?" she asked Gou but before he answered her, Ash slung his arm around Gou's shoulder. 

"This is Gou. I'm engaged to him", Ash said proudly. 

The lady had a tear in her eyes as she looked at them with a smile. 

"You have grown so big now! You were just a boy when we met!" she wiped the tears in the corner of her eyes. 

Gou offered her a piece of handkerchief, in which she properly declined and pulled out her own. 

"Come this way. I'll show you where the tearoom is", she said and led the way. 

\------------

The lady served them crumpets and tea before she began with her story of the odd events that had been happening in the palace. 

"It's almost supernatural", she said. 

"Tell us more", Gou said while stealing a look at the window where there was a cleaner view of the tree of Beginning . 

"Ah, yes. The fading painting is not the only occurrence. One night, before the painting faded, the crystal rock was emitting green light. In the palace history, that was the only time it happened since the day you went with Lucario to the tree. I'm not sure if we are in immediate danger but it does feel like something crucial is going to take place", she said. 

"The Lucario story is real huh?" Gou pondered to himself.

They continued to talk until it was late. A butler came in and told them that they were invited to join Lady Aileen for breakfast in the morning. Apparently, she caught wind of his visit and would like to see her young acquaintance once again. They returned the clothes afterwards and headed back to their lounge. 

It was two in the morning when Gou woke up to a rustling sound on their bed. "Pikachu? Do you want to use the toilet?" 

But he muffled a scream when he saw a weird doll like creature standing on top of his ankle. 

"Jirachi! Ji!" it greeted, pointing to a paper that suddenly emerged on his hand. He looked at it but couldn't read anything written on it as the paper glimmered too brightly. 

"Ji ji!" it pointed to its head. Trying to understand the message, Gou looked between the creature which he was sure is a pokemon and the paper. He made a guess that it wanted him to stick it on its head.

"Did you drop this or something?" Gou asked as he attached it to Jirachi's head. 

When that was done, the pokemon glowed and floated around him gracefully. It placed its tiny hand on his shoulder and he felt a little tingle on his shoulder. 

Then everything became a blurry experience. He remembered being teleported with his very asleep husband to be to a cave. He wanted to wake him up to show him what was happening but a glowing stone caught his attention instead.

There was warmth emitting from the stone in front of them and he wasn't sure if he was hallucinating.

"Did I drink too much?" he asked himself, rubbing his eyes. He did have a few glasses of alcoholic beverage but while he was not an avid drinker, he wasn't weak to it either. 

He was sure he was a sober man at this point.

"Ash", he tried to wake his boyfriend but failed as if his sleep had gone undisturbed. And so the theory of Ash being able to fall asleep anywhere had been proven. He mentally ticked some of the theories he had about his boyfriend. 

That was the least of his concern at that moment. A more pressing matter would be there was an odd thing happening, one that he could not fathom and he was the only one watching it unfold. 

When he felt his energy being drawn from him towards the glowing stone, he felt a little drain. It was weird, he couldn't see it but he could feel Ash's energy wave intertwined with his as it got absorbed into the stone. 

And the entire time he was experiencing the moment, Ash was just lying on his back even on the cold hard cave floor but he did look affected as if energy was also drawn out of him. 

"Ash, goddamnit, will you just wake up already?" 

Again, he was answered by a snore. 

The glowing stone shone brighter and then it cracked before bursting open. He wondered if that was a bad thing or a good thing. 

They were returned to the room just as quickly as they left. At that speed it happened, he wasn't sure if he was just dreaming or it really happened but his brain was too fuzzy to catch up. 

"Ji ji ji", the small pokemon giggled before disappearing with a poof. 

".... That was an out of the world experience", Gou scratched his head. "I wonder what' s that pokemon?" 

"Uuu.. Uwaaa!!!!" 

Gou turned his head to the side where Ash had been sleeping. His eyes widened when he saw his sleeping boyfriend lying next to a naked baby. 

"This… This must be a dream…" 

However, no matter how many times he slapped himself, the baby was still there crying and he quickly cradled him to lull him to sleep. 

\----------

It was like he was awakened from the longest of sleep forcefully. It gave him so much headache that the first thing he did was to complain in pain. 

But only the voice of a baby could be heard coming out from his mouth. 

He felt himself being lifted and rocked gently. A calming voice was singing to him and it made him feel better. 

Then Aaron fell back to sleep. He'll figure things out when morning come. 


	3. First time parenting

Pikachu stared at the small bundle on the bed. It was moving and wrinkling the blanket covering its body and with its growing curiousity, the yellow mouse sniffed at it. Gou had gone out for a while and his trainer, Ash was still sleeping rather comfortably not too far from the small bundle. 

Hearing a small voice talking about the crafts of the ceiling in wonders, it hovered above the bundle to check if it was a living matter hidden inside it. 

"Double whammy! What are you?" Pikachu gasped as it looked at what peculiarly looked like a human baby with bright blue eyes. He had thin hair with somewhat reddish highlight and big blue eyes but some of his features resembled that of Ash, quite imminent on his hair straightness and square like but chubby facial structure. 

The human baby stopped talking about the ceiling and smiled when he saw Pikachu. 

"Hi, I'm Aaron. Nice to meet you Pikachu", the baby introduced himself. 

"You can understand me?" Pikachu gaped, his round eyes were in pure disbelief. 

"I believe that's because I am in my baby form and it gives me an advantage of understanding pokemon's language", said Aaron, and then extended his small fist to grab Pikachu's cheek. 

"I must say, being a baby gives me the desire to enjoy you fluffy cheeks". 

"As long as you don't pinch me too hard… Your name does ring a bell. Are you Sir Aaron that gives Mew your aura?" 

"Yes, how do you know about that?" 

"We've met your Lucario. He was a great Pokemon". 

"Do you know where he is now?" 

"He passed away for the same heroic deed as yours". 

Perhaps it was due to sadness that he expressed it with crying. His small body trembled as he cried until his voice was dried out. Aaron had been best friend with Lucario and losing it mattered a lot. Will the pokemon go through the same thing as he did with the cycle of rebirth? 

Deep in his heart, he wished that it would happen in his lifetime.

Pikachu dripped with sweats when he saw Ash still unmoved by the loud crying. At first, he was about to coo the baby to make him feel better (but then again, this is a baby with the consciousness of a twenty years old so he wasn't sure if it'll work out) but Gou returned with a shopping bag and when he heard the crying, he rushed to the bed to pick the baby up. 

The warm gesture managed to sooth Aaron as his tears reduced to just whimpers. 

"There there, who startled you… Eep", he jumped when Ash snorted in his sleep. 

"So it must've been him! He must've made all these scary noises. Bad bad man, " Gou glared at Ash but then thought something funny. Sometimes, pranking your loved ones would give him the best feeling in the world. "Maybe this'll wake him", he said and hovered the baby butt above Ash's nose. 

Ash sneezed and that shocked the baby that he peed on top of said man. "Oh my, I didn't expect that to happen", Gou grinned. Well, at least it was just baby pee...

The pee stench roused Ash to sit up and he wiped his hand all over his face. 

"What's this?" he asked drowsily, looking at his wet palm in confusion. 

"A baby's pee", Gou answered. 

Immediately, Ash was out of the bed and rushed to the bathroom to wash it off. 

"Eww, how did the piss get onto me?" he asked from the bathroom. 

"Because we're having one at the moment", Gou answered. 

"I know we talked about having children but I don't remember having one". 

"You were asleep during the process. Even if the world ends, you wouldn't wake up from your dream. I tried waking you up though". 

"Huh? What year is this?" 

"20xx", Gou answered. 

"Huh… So I'm still in the present. It's the same hotel we checked in", he walked out with a towel draped around his neck after checking the bathroom interior and himself. Gou was on the bed checking his phone while folding something. Ash leaned against the bathroom door, looking at Gou's back while brushing his teeth. 

What a lucky man he was to see this in the morning. He blissfully let the view soaked into his memory. 

"Okay, I've put him in diapers !" Gou exclaimed excitedly and raised the baby to check that the diaper was skin fit. 

It was at that moment Ash spluttered and almost choked on the toothpaste foam. 

"I supposed that is my other parent?" asked Aaron. 

"... That's my trainer, Ash", Pikachu answered. 

"I wonder if I'll be alright…" 

"Gou, whose baby is that?" asked Ash, his finger shakily pointed at the baby. 

"Ours. You were too busy sleeping to even hear me calling you to wake up last night", Gou said. He walked towards said boyfriend and asked the other to hold out his hands. It took him a couple of minutes to get the arm fold right before passing the baby to Ash. 

Ash stared at the baby and noticed how his feature was all over the baby's face. "He looks almost like me!" 

Then he saw the red shade in the baby's hair. "He has some of your features too. How are you inheriting these traits? Gou is there something you're not telling me?" 

"Like what?" 

"Like… Are you secretly a girl?" 

Gou gave him the most judgemental look he could muster. "Dude, you saw me naked all the time". 

"You're right. You're clearly a guy. Then this baby is a mystery". 

"Is this your way of panicking?" Gou raised an eyebrow. 

"Am I? I'm not sure myself". 

"We just had the baby. Do you want to know how he got here?" 

"Of course I would want to know". 

"I'm hungry… And curious about my origin. Mostly hungry", Aaron said. 

"Why don't you try crying? He'll probably feed you", said Pikachu. He had heard many babies do it to get their parents attention. 

"It would be unbecoming", Aaron disagreed. "I have to be more refined than that". 

"Look", Pikachu wavered his tiny hands, "You're a baby and baby don't get anything unless he cries so it's totally an acceptable method to get food".

Aaron blinked and then looked up at Ash's face. Maybe there would be another way to tell him that he wanted to be fed. 

Such as sucking on the other' s thumb. That would be better than crying. 

"Oh I think he's hungry", Ash said. 

"Right gimme a sec. Need to find out how to prepare his bottle. Let's see". 

Meanwhile, Ash played peek a boo with the baby. He made funny faces to get a laugh from the little bundle of joy. When Gou finally finished with the formula mix, he took the baby from Ash and read the manual on the right position to feed him. 

"This angle and this angle…. This is quite hard", Gou said as he referred to the online manual. 

"Yeah, it says here the baby has to be burped after giving him the formula", Ash picked up Pikachu and tried to imitate the image. "Rub his back until he let out a big burp. Rub his back", Ash rubbed Pikachu's back. 

And then, Pikachu let put a huge burp that put others to shame. 

"Wow, it works even on a pokemon", said Ash. Gou chuckled and joyously claimed, "This feels really fun, being a first time parent".

"Fun? You should've seen him this morning before you woke up! As I recall, someone was pacing left and right while searching the browser for answers ! He just got lucky he found an online PDF for baby 101", Pikachu huffed at Gou, reminding himself how Cinderace's trainer was panicking when creating a shopping list for baby stuffs. 

"What's a PDF?" asked Aaron curiously as he let go of the bottle. Back in his days, these tools to care for babies had not yet been invented and so, he noted that it might not be too bad to be born in this fancy era. 

"It's a file format with words and pictures", Pikachu answered after he managed to escape from becoming Ash's practice doll. 

"Oh, like a scroll!" 

"I don't know what you're talking about". 

Once the baby was full, Gou did the burping and swaddled the baby. Then he laid him down in the middle of the bed.

Facing Ash, he said, 

"Alright since you're curious, I'll tell you now what happened last night". 

\----------

Ash asked, squinting his eyes while deep in thought l, "A star like pokemon?"

There were quite a few star like pokemon and he tried to match the description to a pokemon he'd met before. 

He watched Gou scribbled on his rotom phone a drawing of the supposed pokemon. At this point, they agreed with each other that their drawings are tragedy, "It has pointy shaped corners on its head and some paper like talisman hanging on them. The eyes are round and it made a sound like ji ji chi", said Gou. 

The picture was just scribbles that were hard to understand. Both of them were just bad at drawing and so Ash had to rely mainly on the description Gou had told him. 

"Star like… Pointy heads… Oh… Ohhh… I know which pokemon you're talking about". 

Ash snapped his finger as it dawned to him. Another curious thing about Ash, he seemed to have quite a knowledge about very, very rare pokemons. 

"This man right here is a peculiar one", Aaron said in amusement. 

"Oh, believe me. I'm stuck so long with him because he is a peculiar one. Do you know that he'd grown immune to my electric shock?" 

"Really?" 

"Yeah". 

"Oh wow". 

"Enlighten me please", Gou said, tilting his head curiously. 

"Huhu… Pointy heads with talisman paper on them. That's Jirachi". 

"Jirachi? Hm… I think I've heard the legend before… Isn't that the pokemon that'll wake up in a week once the Millennial comet passed the orbit?" 

"Yeah and it has true eyes that can absorb energy from the comet. It sleeps in Verina", explained Ash. 

"How come you know about it so much?"

"I met it when I was travelling with May, Max and Brock but at that time, it just so happened it's the year the Millennial Comet is passing the orbit". 

"That's so cool and I'm almost jealous. If it needs the Millennial Comet, then there isn't any Millennial Comet this time so why did Jirachi appear?" 

It struck Gou as odd that it happened but then, seeking the answer was also a part of the journey as researchers. 

Ash grinned widely and Pikachu climbed on his shoulder. They could smell the incoming adventures from miles away. 

Gou got the same buzz too. He looked at the baby and smiled, mouthing something like , "this is exciting !" 

"There's only one way to find out. If there's any pokemon that can answer us, it'd be Mew". 

The what?

Gou abruptly looked up to Ash. 

"Mew??" 

"Yeah, we're right at the heart of its home", said Ash. 

"What?" 

"I didn't tell you? The Tree of Beginning is Mew's home". 

"Seriously? And you didn't bother to tell me at all?" Gou said excitedly and draped a cloth around the baby and slung it on himself. 

He then began checking the number of pokeballs he brought and checked the types he had in the mix. Already, he was developing a checklist of things to restock. 

"You haven't finished telling me the story and we have to meet up with Lady Aileen first for breakfast", Ash reminded Gou. 

Gou absentmindedly nodded at that reminder. 

"I know I know. I'll tell you when we're on the way to the palace".

\------------

Cinderace came in a bit later to help carry the luggage to the jeep. Then it asked Pikachu about the human baby in which Pikachu explained to it in great detail whom the baby was. The couple was already in decent suits and ties with ash wriggling the tie frequently telling Gou that it made him feel uncomfortable. 

"Come here", Gou signed him to come closer and helped to adjust the tie. Once done, he stole a peck on said boyfriend's cheek. 

"Better?" the leaner of the two asked. 

"You're such a champ, thank you". 

Gou had found a twenty four hour shop nearby that sold absolutely everything that people needed and had bought a few baby onesies (in which he had them washed at a laundry bar as soon as he got them) and put the baby in a navy blue one. 

"It has a Froakie hoodie. Look", he excitedly showed it to Ash as he pulled the hoodie over the baby's head. 

"It's cute", Ash melted at the sight. As they were walking towards the palace, Gou continued telling the stories like he promised to do. 

"You see, when Jirachi mysteriously appeared in the room, suddenly I had this paper in my hand. I think it told me to stick it to its head. I wasn't sure if that's what it really wants so I made a guess and sticked it on it".

"Hm hm", Ash made a noise to encourage Gou to continue. 

"Then we got teleported into a cave. There was a glowing stone and it took our energy… I tried waking you up but you were pretty tired after the party so it was really, really hard to get you out of your sleep". 

"It was just us?" asked Ash. 

"Pretty much just us. Then the stone exploded and when we were returned to the room, this little guy was there with us". 

"Hm hm. Could it be that was an egg where babies came from?" 

"Your guesses amuse me sometimes".. 

"Yeah you're right. That would be weird".

When they arrived at the palace, the two were escorted to the dining hall. Lady Aileen was already at the table and she stood up to greet both of them. 

"Please, have a seat. I'm Aileen and it's a pleasure to meet you", she said.

"Thank you", Gou said, bowing his head at her. 

"We've prepared some food that might suit your taste. Oh pardon me, I didn't know that you have a baby with you", she gasped when she saw the cooing baby. 

"It's fine. We just got him", Gou explained. 

"We should prepare a crib for you so that you can eat easily", the lady said and instructed the butler to bring one into the dining room. Gou put the baby in the crib and beseated close to it. The food was lavish and bountiful. According to the lady, a lot of the ingredients were grown in the palace's own garden. 

Ash stuffed his face with the food while telling stories about the places he had gone to and many more. Lady Aileen was quite entertained with the tales and showed her appreciation by serving them more desserts. 

At some point, Gou had to decline any more food. 

"For something as simple as breakfast, you sure went all out", said Gou to her. Lady Aileen laughed and admitted she did like having a company like the couple and so she had to be extra careful at making the best only for them. 

"I had been curious but what's the baby called?" she asked. 

The couple stiffened at the question. There were so many things happening that they had forgotten about finding a name for the baby. 

"Um, actually about that. We're not sure what to call him yet", Gou explained. 

He felt goosebumps coursing through his veins when Lady Aileen clasped her hands with twinkles in her eyes. 

"Allow me to be this child godmother", she said, leaving her chair towards the crib. She carried him and the baby looked at her quietly. 

"I guess… I mean, both of us don't really mind". 

Gou nodded in agreement. Choosing a name could be a very hectic and headache inducing thing. 

"Hm… I think I know what to call him. How do you feel about the baby taking after the legend's name as Aaron?" she asked the couple. 

"That's not a bad idea actually", Gou agreed. 

"Wow, she got your name right the first time", said Pikachu, sitting on the table and stretching to allow better digestion.

"I was planning to cry at every name they are going to give me but this is better", Aaron admitted. He was a little relieved with the outcome. 

"That sounded better than what I came out with", said Ash. 

"What were you about to call him?" 

"Goulash MK2". 

"That's the name of a food, silly". 

"I'd feel sorry if he named you that", Pikachu snorted. 

"That was a close call", Aaron said. He would definitely cry if he was given that name. 

\------------

After saying their goodbye, Gou and Ash made a final check on their resources. Gou put a belt around the pokemon and secured Aaron to himself. He made a mental note to buy a baby car seat after they returned from the journey. 

Ash closed the bunk and hopped in the driver seat. He ignited the engine and checked the compass direction. 

"Are you ready, Gou?" 

"Tsk, you still want to ask me that? Of course I'm ready".

"Alright, let's go to the Tree of Beginning!" 

Gou smirked and said those words he often said. 

"Let's go!" 


	4. A jump to save life

Everything was supposed to be an adventure. Just that. Vacation and adventure. With a new family added to their already large one. 

But things turned for the worse. It was an unexpected turn of event of a holiday journey ended in tragedy. 

Ash's fingers twitched and could barely even move. His whole body… he ached so much that every muscle felt like it burned. and he knew his leg was most likely broken. His sight was a blurry mess, nothing could register properly no matter where he looked. There was a deep hole, a massive one just a few feet away and he knew what had caused it. 

It wasn't an accident. 

They had seen it… a monster. 

He could feel his eyes watering. He had seen it. With his own eyes how out of all things that could have fallen into the bottomless pit, it was a brief moment of Pikachu, Gou and Aaron being tossed into the air and falling inside it. His chest squeezed tightly and never had he felt so lost… and so he grieved like nothing in the world could fix it. 

Curiosity had been a mistake but they were curious people who couldn't turn a blind eye when they saw a man in a hood stood and was surrounded by Regice, Registeel and Regirock while holding onto something that looked like a staff with a glowing end. 

Only to realize that the three Regis was forming a pillar surrounding a circle drawn on the ground. 

The circle glowed Mercury red as the man chanted. 

For a moment, the sky turned cloudy. The ground shook as the monster's head began to cut through the earth. Emerging from it, the monster that entangled by the root from the Tree of Beginning roared. It's voice called forth fear that scared the entire species around it. 

Ash had seen it before… this kind of evil being.. An experiment turned south with Groudon where Butler awakened such being that fed greedily onto its surrounding. 

This monster was like a patchwork version of legendaries stitched together and the energy it carried lacked kindness and warmth, saturated with all the evil that existed in the world. 

No sooner than it appeared, the being disappeared, probably taken by the man who summoned it. The ground was still shaking and its structure collapsed and they were within the parameter of the disaster. By the time they reacted to it, it was already too late and he had to watch Gou, Pikachu and the baby fell while a boulder knocked him off to another side. 

"I couldn't save them". Ash didn't keep count how many times the words would be uttered by his own mouth. 

"Cinderace!" From his blurry sight, he saw it running towards him in a hurry. The pokemon kneeled down and lifted him up. It checked the surrounding before hopping a high jump. 

He fainted in the middle of the journey and when he came to, he was already in the hospital on respiratory support and IVs. 

His mother was at his side and when she saw him stirred, she began to tear up. 

"Ash! Oh my dear child Ash!" she said in relief. 

"Where's Pikachu? And Gou, where is he?" Ash asked weakly. 

Mrs. Ketchum's lips thinned and she bowed her head. "We couldn't find them", she said softly. 

"Ah…" he then remembered how he got into such a bad state in the first place. 

"I was useless", his voice was strangely cold like ice. He didn't know if he was heartbroken or just too tired to think about anything that nothing felt like they could make sense now. 

"You weren't". 

"Don't say that. I couldn't save them, mum". It was at that moment his mother pulled him into a tight embrace. Ash felt his shoulder becoming wet. His mother was crying for him while he couldn't shed a single tear. 

"Stop it Ash. If you're useless then I'd be the most useless mother in the world since I couldn't protect your happiness. Since you were young. I couldn't give you a normal family. I couldn't be there when you're weary and sick".

"Mum, you've done so much for me. I failed you and Gou's parents". 

"Tell me. Let it out. Tell me. I know you want to grieve about it". 

At that time, Ash suddenly understood. What he felt wasn't grief. What he felt was a cold pulsating anger that numbed him. The only remedy to it was something close to revenge. 

"Mum, I… I was there when I saw him fall. Pikachu and the baby too", Ash said. 

"A baby?" 

"You wouldn't believe me but you were this close to having a grandson", his two fingers pinched together to show how close it was, "But that's all gone now and I am angry at the man who caused it".

"Ash, what happened?" she knew she shouldn't force it but her son looked like he wanted to let it out. She let go and was listening. 

"I was driving the jeep towards the tree of Beginning. He was excited to explore the home of Mew and told me all the theories he had about the place we're heading to. We were a few miles up the hill when we saw a strange person standing in the middle of a circle. We thought of stopping to take a look and I just did that. 

It never occurred to me that the man was calling forth… No, he was using a darker power to summon a strange monster. The moment it came out, it caused the ground to cave so deep and we were within that affected area. 

And they fell".

And for some reason, the monster and the strange man were gone right after it all happened. There was also that feeling that the person being there was calculated rather than an incidental encounter. 

"Maybe I should go back there", he said but Mrs. Ketchum stopped him with her hand on his shoulder. 

"You need to rest. We'll look for him, Ash. We might find him if we continue our search". 

"We?" 

"Gou's parents have helped to hire a search party. For now, you should recover. When you arrive at the hospital, you were badly injured and even the doctors were trying their best to keep you alive", said Mrs. ketchum. "Let your injury heals and leave the rest to us". 

Ash succumbed to her words. It might be too late by the time they got to him… perhaps, it was too late all along. 

The sunlight began to penetrate the curtain fall. 

His thoughts fleeted away to the memories he had shared with Gou. 

\----------

The search party came back with an empty hand. 

Their bodies couldn't be found. 

A few days later, the two families were discussing about funeral procession. 

\---------

"Bulba, bulba, bulba, bulba", he heard a united chant sung in the background. It was loud, it was warm and it was purifying as well as healing. 

He didn't want to move and just wanted to stay like this forever. 

"Pi? Pika. Pikaaa", there was Pikachu calling at him. He must have wanted some snacks but he was too relaxed to wake up. 

"Ash. Ash entertain Pikachu please", he murmured tiredly. 

"Pikaaaaaa", Pikachu jumped on top of him. 

Really. Why was it so hard to wake this log up?

"Five more minutes, Pikachu", he threw the most iconic excuse out there but the electric mouse would have none of it. 

"Pika! PIKACH-!!!" 

Gou sat up to stop him from sending a thunder at him. Sometimes he got caught in it and it hurt. 

"Yes, I'm awake. Now, let me wake up that jerk for you". 

He turned to the left and saw a celebi levitating Aaron in the air. Aaron gurgled at him and tried to reach out with his tiny hands. 

Then, he noticed the bulbasaurs releasing its powder dust at him. 

And why was there a Celebi? 

He caught Aaron with a warm hug and looked around in confusion. 

"Where am I?" 

"Pikaaaa", Pikachu excitedly squealed. His human wasn't there with them. 

And Ash was out of their range at the moment. 

Somehow, Pikachu needed to explain this to Gou. 

" _ I need to tell him we got transported to another time during the fall", _ Pikachu thoughtfully said. 

" _ Do you have any idea how we can do this?"  _ asked Aaron. 

" _ The problem is we can't really talk to him… Hey Celebi, what moveset do you have?"  _

_ "Time jump, Levitate, Telepathy and Hypnosis",  _ Celebi replied. 

_ "Great. You have telepathy. Can you explain to him about our situation?"  _ asked Pikachu. 

" _ Look. I'm not your slave and I'm planning to leave as soon as he wakes up", _ said Celebi. 

" _ Excuse my french but you're a jerk",  _ Pikachu angrily pointed out. 

Celebi stuck its tongue at Pikachu but before it could fly away, it felt itself being absorbed into a ball to its surprise. 

Pikachu stood there not knowing what to feel. On one hand the Celebi was a jerk so it deserved it but on the other hand, he would be seeing more of said pokemon. 

"I caught a celebi", Gou showed the ball at Pikachu excitedly but Pikachu just watched with its pebble eyes at it with the least amount of excitement possible. 

" _ At least the issue about going back in time is not an issue _ ", Aaron commented. 

" _ Sometimes I wonder if I should be grateful about his instinct of catching whatever he sees first _ ", Pikachu pointed out. 

" _ It's a blessing in a curse _ ", Aaron said. 

To Gou, this whole conversation looked like Pikachu talking to a cooing baby. 

Gou called Celebi out and it flew around said man with irritation. It jabbed its tiny finger onto Gou's shirt, saying, 

"Is this the way for you to thank your saviour?" 

The words were transmitted through telepathy and Gou's eyes gleamed. 

"This is my first time hearing a pokemon speak by telepathy! This is it! What Ash told me when we first met! That he could here a voice in his head!! And oof the Lucario story!" 

"Is that so? NOT that I care!" 

"Aww… And it's a feisty one too. What got your pantwy", Gou cooed at it and hugged Celebi. 

"I wear pants! And no pantwy!" 

" _ It thinks pantwy is a word",  _ Pikachu sniffed and smirked, which earned him a glare from Celebi. 

" _ What's a pantwy? _ " Aaron asked and Pikachu grinned. 

" _ You'll learn when you're older, kiddo _ ". 

\-----------

Soon Gou learnt that he had time jumped to the past and when he recalled of Ash, with a worried face, he asked Celebi to take them home. 

Only to find that they were in a lot of problems. 

"Okay, one I need to charge my energy. Just because you want me to bring you back, doesn't mean I have enough resources to bring you back. Got it?" Celebi explained to Gou. 

"Okay, we can rest another day to give you enough power to bring us back", Gou said. 

"Number two, you cannot exist in a future timeline where you have just skipped from. How many days we stayed in the past is how many days ahead in the future you have to exist". 

"Okay…"

"So keep counting". 

Gou nodded and marked in his rotom calendar the numbers of days with a plus few days in since he wasn't sure how long he was out from the time jump, and then added in the days calculation in the future date. 

"Three, my chances of getting you to the right timeline is 50 percent". 

"That's a huge margin of error". 

"Precisely". 

"But it's worth trying". 

"But I've told you about the margin of error. I might by mistake, accidentally bring you to the wrong timeline where you exist which will cause you to cease to exist". 

"Ash and Cinderace are waiting for us there. Trying to get back to them is better than not trying at all". 

Celebi was at lost of words. Humans are difficult creatures to comprehend. Was it important to try something risky… Just because someone was waiting for them there? 

"You humans are complicated. If you think that's what you want, I'll bring you but don't regret it later". 

Once they came to an understanding, Gou looked around to see if they were in anywhere familiar. They found a paveway and after a while walking on the trail, they arrived at a small town. There were walls around it and the group made their way to the gate. 

Gou believed they were stuck in medieval era judging from the infrastructure he was seeing. 

"State your business in Rota", one of the soldiers asked. 

"I would like to… bring the baby to the doctor…" 

"Doctor? What occupation is that?" 

"... People who healed other people?" 

"Oh, we only have alchemist in the town. Where's your wife?" 

"I-It's painful to tell you this but I'm a single father", he hoped the lies would be sufficient. 

The soldier looked at him sympathetically. "Losing your wife at such a young age. It must be hard to be the only father in the house. You should find yourself a wife". 

"I will but I'm too poor to get a lady to help around". 

Two more soldiers came over and the one he had been talking to, explained to the others about his situation. 

The three soldiers felt sorry for him and gave him some gold. 

"You shouldn't have to", Gou tried to refuse. 

"Take it. The alchemist fee is an expensive one. Get the boy treated. Poor father and son", they stepped aside and allowed him in. 

Gou cautiously walked passed them and he found himself walking in a city full of lively trades. 

"Wow. My first time in such a place. This is better than walking in a VR program", he said while carrying the baby with him. Aaron cooed when he saw a familiar sight. 

" _ This is where I lived. This street, if you walk a little bit more, you will see my shop. I run an alchemist shop just down this lane",  _ Aaron told Pikachu. 

" _ So that means you are here? I mean your past is here? Then will you die if you meet with each other?" _

" _ Wait, what would happen to me?"  _

Celebi scoffed from inside Gou's pocket. " _ How can they be the same person? You are your future self and this past is a different version of you. You might have a continuous memory but you are another entity with different bodies and genetics".  _

_ "You mean in his case, he can exist in two places?"  _ asked Pikachu. 

Celebi guffawed and the pokeball vibrated as he laughed. " _ Obviously duh".  _

They got a little hungry and Gou went around to get some goat milk and bread. 

When he found a location that was quite hidden, he let his other pokemon out, which were dewgong and Morpeko and fed them as well. 

He had a whole bag of silver changes and tied the bag to his pocket. Apparently it would be enough for them to even find a lodge for a couple of days. 

Except, it was hard to find a good one. A baby friendly one. Gou walked further upwards and when he couldn't find anymore inn, he sat at the front porch of one of the shop lots. 

He managed to get a few cloth to change the baby but they needed a place with clean water. 

He sighed. "What should I do?" 

As he lamented further, he was interrupted by an approaching man who was walking towards the shop. 

"May I help you?" the young gentleman asked. 

Gou looked at him with joy in his eyes. "You're just like in the picture! You're Aaron!" 

" _ That's me!"  _ Baby Aaron cheered as well. 

The man blinked. 

"Uhhh… Maybe we should talk inside", Aaron invited Gou in, opening the door for them to come in. 

\---------

In the current future, Ash discarded any plans to attend a funeral without a proper death confirmation. He packed his bag and Cinderace was by his side, ready to follow him. 

"I promised that I will catch him if he falls. I failed to do that and now I will search for him myself". 

Cinderace grunted in agreement. 

Thanks to ditto, he managed to explain about Celebi, the pokemon he saw right before Gou, Pikachu and Aaron disappeared. 

Ash left a note on his table. 

"I'm sorry, mum but I believe that he is still out there somewhere". 


	5. The visitor from the future

"I am Gou, from the future". 

The introduction came as easy as it sounded but with a lot of care taken into details of what could be said and what couldn't. Celebi had been nagging in his head that he shouldn't mention anything about Aaron being a hero or anything absurd like that because according to his informer (whom he wondered about), this Aaron had yet to be recruited to serve the queen. 

"Oh", Aaron blinked and then let out another one like he just understood what Gou was telling him. 

"Hi Gou. And these two?" 

"My son, also called Aaron and Pikachu". 

"Both are cute. So Gou, how long have you been in this place?" 

"We've just arrived and were wandering the streets until somehow ended up in front of your shop". 

"Hmm… Then you must be hungry. Let me bring out something to eat", he said and went to the back. 

A few minutes later, he brought out berries and a bowl of porridge, putting it down on the table. With gratitude, Pikachu ate the berries and Gou chowed down the porridge. 

"The baby would require nursing. I know a mother who could feed him. Just two shops down. I can show you to her later", Aaron offered. 

Gou nodded. This man is very kind, he thought. It kind of reminded him of Ash when he was being nice to people. Well, in general, Ash was nice but he could also be clumsy. Eventhough they struck similarities, Aaron still held himself elegantly if compared to Ash. 

He carefully lifted the porcelain cup and sipped the tea prepared. The herbal mix calmed him and he visibly relaxed. 

"What's in the tea? It feels rejuvenating", Gou asked. 

" Ahh.. A little bit of cinnamon, a pinch of cardamom, brew them and serve". 

" _ I love that mix _ ", baby Aaron told Pikachu. 

" _ Smells great too _ ", Pikachu sniffed the air and sighed contentedly. Then baby Aaron turned his gaze to Gou's pocket. 

" _ Thanks Celebi for letting papa know".  _

" _ Kid, if I don't tell him, he's going to screw up the future and I will never know the exact timeline to leap to _ ". 

Baby Aaron smiled. It might have a personality but it's kind inside. He was sure of it. 

Pikachu perked up and crawled to the baby. There was something he was curious about and he wanted some clarification of what he'd heard. 

" _ Papa? _ " 

" _ Well, it's a polite way to address someone whose taking care of you _ ". 

" _ What about Ash. Have you decided what you want to call him?"  _

" _ I'm still thinking about it. Maybe I'll know when I see him again _ ". 

Gou took note of the shop decoration. He could see mason jars lined up on the shelves with herbs preserved inside of them. There was also a counter and a bed where he assumed the alchemist would perform his treatment on the patient. 

The scent of woodwork filled the air and the incense added to it an aroma that could be found mainly in botanist places.

All the medicinal herbs were evergreen. He got his curiosity off his chest. 

"Do you go into the forest to find the plants everyday?" 

"Not everyday", Aaron said, "I keep a few growths around in the backyard. If you wish to look at it later, I can show you". 

"Oh, I don't mean to trouble you", Gou said. 

"No, not a trouble at all. I can show you a few things that you might find interesting". 

Later that day, Aaron kept his promise to let Gou see his small garden. It was a beautiful small place and well kept. "You really like flowers huh?" 

Aaron cleared his throat, feeling a little embarrassed. 

"In fact I do. And magic has always been my interest. Just so happened it requires a lot of understanding about plants".

"Magic?"

"Yes, magic. You've never heard of it?" 

"We… In the future, we don't believe in such things. Everything can be explained with science". 

"Well, in this timeline, magic plays an important role to help with the community".

"Maybe I'd like to understand a bit more about it". 

" _ Ooo boy. They get along so fast _ ", Pikachu narrowed its eyes at Aaron.

" _ They did. I hope we would when I grow up _ ". Baby Aaron grabbed Gou's shirt with its tiny hand. Gou noticed how it was approaching dawn. 

"Well, I guess, I need to move along now and find a place to stay", said Gou, excusing himself. 

"Wait, I have a better proposition. I have a room here. You can stay here for the time being".

"Won't I be imposing?" 

"Not at all. I live near the castle ground so the shop's room has always been empty. You can use it if you'd like. Let me show you the room". 

They went to the second level and going up the stairs, he could see rows and rows of shelves with scrolls in them. When he was shown the room, it was quite large with a queen bed right in the middle. 

"It's not much but I hope you're okay with it". 

"Don't worry. This is better than the inns". 

When Aaron left after closing the shop, Gou pressed his lips together and slapped both of his warming cheeks. 

"Uwaa, he is so nice! I feel like having a goddamn fucking crush!" 

Pikachu immediately disagreed and by walking towards Gou who was cradling the baby, it buffed its chest and pursed its lips. 

"Alright, alright Pikachu. I'm not cheating on Ash. No it never crosses my mind. At all. It was just a harmless crush okay. Like school girl kind of thing", he rubbed Pikachu's head to calm it down. 

" _ Oh yeah? Harmless crush can become harmful, you know. I will watch over you like an angry Fearow's mother! _ " 

Gou laughed dryly at the intimidation. He managed to interpret Pikachu's warning somehow. 

"Alright Pikachu. I promise I'll behave". 

Gou let his other Pokemon out and paid more attention towards the baby. He cleaned the baby up and fed him with the remaining milk he managed to keep it cool by giving it to Dewgong to hold before returning it to the pokeball. 

Celebi floated around in the room while Morpeko munched the berry until it was full again. 

"But he kind of reminded me of Ash. A little", Gou said while tucking the baby on the bed. 

"Maybe Aaron is a part of his ancestry? I don't know but maybe I should take a DNA sample and compare it later". 

" _ Why is it significant for you to know that _ ?" Pikachu huffed. 

"I mean… Ash never talks about his family much. Maybe he thinks he only has his mother with him. But aren't you curious, Pikachu?" 

" _ Okay… You got me there. Not that it matters but it wouldn't hurt to be nosy _ ". 

"Who knows? I might have a special Ash radar". 

A large sweat trickled from Pikachu's ears. This was totally about that stupid crush he was having. By having a crush, Gou thought he could finally confirm that his type was most probably just Ash Ketchum bloodline in general. 

Pikachu used iron tail to toss a pillow at Gou. Nope. Not happening. 

"Okay, okayyyy. I get it! Ouch!" 

"You deserved that one", Celebi sniffed and when Gou chucked a pillow at it, it easily dodged. 

Baby Aaron had finally dozed off after Gou tapped its waist lightly to lull him to sleep. He couldn't sing any form of lullaby and so his best effort to put the baby to sleep was by giving him a light tap. 

When all the pokemon had found a spot to sleep, Gou carefully snuck out of the room to have a look at the scrolls. He unrolled them carefully after undoing the tie and looked at the manuscript. 

He couldn't understand the writings and wordings but he loved how detailed the picture was and how the words were written down in such a beautiful neat cursive handwriting. 

Every single detail was nicely handcrafted. Even the pictures were coloured. 

He neatly put one back before taking another out. Gou didn't know how long he had been sitting on the floor just looking at the scrolls. He was having fun observing each one of them when on one of it, he came across with a familiar picture. 

Regis, standing on a circle line with a pattern that resembled the pattern he saw drawn on the ground where the monster had appeared. 

"This thing… I should ask Aaron about it in the morning".

He brought the scroll with him to bed and carefully placed it next to the headboard. 

\--------

In his mind, Ash thought he would be the only one heading towards the kingdom on Gou's Corviknight. He had it in his mind that he would be fighting this all alone. What he did not expect was Kukui and Clemont to ride the wind tide with him with a Charizard and an Altaria. 

"Can you explain why you feel the need to follow me?" Ash asked loudly as they went through the wind. He could hear the sound of the wind slapping his goggles and that it moved a little when the gust was just too strong. 

"Because you are very stubborn and most likely will not give up on searching", Clemont replied just as loud. 

"What he said!" Kukui added himself in. 

"Mum sure was quick to call you guys", Ash mumbled. 

"Look when they even suggested a funeral, you were angry. Of course your mother will know when to call us!" Clemont replied. 

"Did someone grumble about their mom?" Kukui shouted over the gust. 

Ash was bewildered. How did Clemont even hear about his complaints?

"I don't want to put you guys in danger!" 

"And that means it's okay for you to face the danger? Or you're just confident that you'll find him without trouble ahead?" asked Clemont. 

"None of that", Ash mumbled. The Corviknight soared above the clouds until they were close to the location where the deep hole was. 

"Fly lower, Corviknight", he instructed. Corviknight flew lower and drifted in circles inside the big pit. Then he spotted a single flower blooming at its side. 

"Time flower", he asked the Corviknight to fly closer and reached out for it. 

The time flower blossomed and an instance of Gou, Pikachu and Aaron appearing with a celebi on a flatter ground. Gou had passed out with the baby gently put at his side while Pikachu was running around searching for something. Then a Venasaur appeared and brought them away. 

It was at that moment it occured to him that the reason they couldn't find Gou - they were transported into another time dimension. 

Ash ushered Corviknight to fly to the cliff and landed there. He smiled. Cinderace was right about what it saw. A celebi had brought them out of danger. 

Kukui and Clemont was dumbfounded to see Ash grinning widely, like he had diacovered a treasure. 

"I'm happy", Ash said, "and relieved". 

"And why is that?" Clemont asked, taking off his goggle. 

"They're alive. I found a footprint from this", he showed them a wilting time flower. 

"That's the mythical time flower!" Kukui looked at it with admiration. 

"I saw them arriving at a different time in this location and I think there are more of these", said Ash. 

"Are you suggesting that we searched for the time flower?" asked Clemont. 

"I'd like to do that because he is… Even if it's only a little, I want to be connected to him". 

Clemont and Kukui was in awe. They had never seen Ash making such a solemn face to anyone. 

"You must really love him then", Clemont said. 

"Yeah. I guess you could say that". 

"Alright. I'll help around. I understand what goes on in his mind. I'd go crazy if anything happened to my wife", said Kukui, giving a smack on Ash's back. 

"As a good friend, I'll help you out", Clemont pumped up his hands in the air. 

"Thanks guys", said Ash. 

He was glad he had a good friend and an understanding foster father. 

The flower that wilted, he dug a hole in the ground and buried it. 

"Gou, I'll come for you". 


	6. A time flower in the middle of the night

Rotom phone's alarm went off with beeps but Gou and baby Aaron were already up and about around the room. Gou had cleaned him up and was getting ready to go down a few shops to find the lady who could nurse the baby. He wondered if it would be alright but since Aaron had suggested it the night before, then he could only assume that it was a general practice in this era. 

It was around seven when Aaron arrived at the shop to open it and Gou made his way down the steps carefully, greeting the owner of the shop with a small nod. 

"Good morning", they both greeted each other and Aaron was quick to get behind the counter to set the place up. Just as soon as he finished, a young teenage girl walked in with her little brother to get treatment from the alchemist. 

"I'll head outside. Will come back in a bit", Gou said and he, Pikachu, together with baby Aaron walked to the nursing lady's place. 

She was a woman with broad shoulders and two reddish pigtails with a few babies in her arms but she was friendly and kind to Gou when he reached her place. She took care of baby Aaron and once he was fed, Gou gave her two silver coins and went back to the shop. 

By the time he arrived there, the young girl and her brother had left. 

On the table, Aaron had prepared the breakfast spread for all of them. Gou took a seat and Pikachu climbed the table to see what berries were put in the basket. It grabbed one and ate it with delight. 

"Oh, look at the berries . They look so fresh". 

"Yeah, the stall owner always sells only fresh picks and the berries taste great", said Aaron. 

Gou ate a spoon of the soup. The herb mix was a little strong but he could still enjoy it. 

"This is flavourful", said Gou. 

"Thank you. I'm glad that you enjoyed it. I hope your stay here is comfortable". 

"I slept well. Pikachu and baby Aaron too", Gou said while giving a head rub on Pikachu. 

He finished his bowl of soup and set it aside. "The nursing lady was sure a nice woman", Gou said, talking about his errand in the morning. 

"Isn't she? Her name is Mrs. Lofty". 

"So every morning you'll have customer to treat?" 

"Not everyday. They'll send a letter to me if my service is needed and I'll have a look at what kind of sickness they have. The boy this morning had quite a severe case of rash so I gave them a couple of herbs to help with it". 

"I used to get a mild case of rash too when I was younger", Gou remembered of the red skin he would get if the weather was too warm. 

"Do you still have it now? I can teach you which herbs you can use to calm it". 

"I'm fine. My parents sent me for an injection and it helped ever since. I've never got it again in ages". 

"Injection?" 

"It's a way that people in the future use for treatment". 

"How does the alchemist in your time do it?" 

Gou continued to explain and cackled when Aaron winced at the needle description. It was common, he reassured Aaron. People do get scared at the aforementioned of needles . Needless to say, Aaron was not alone in this one. 

Roughly an hour later, another customer visited the shop, this time was a man with his wife. He was giving Gou quite a menacing look and having the baby in his arms wasn't really helping either. The man's eyes just narrowed further with an unexplained heat behind the stare. 

"I wouldn't come here if I don't have to. He's just lucky he is the only alchemist in town", the man said loudly. 

"Hush, pappy. Be nice to the alchemist", the wife retorted back, worried etched on her face. 

"He wouldn't deny a sick patient for treatment", the man argued back which left the wife in a rather uncomfortable position. 

It wasn't the only instance the man was being obnoxious with his mean words. Gou caught the judging eyes that were being thrown at him. Then there was also instances when he caught the nameless guy staring at his back… specifically his butt but whenever he got caught, he would pretend like he was looking at the floor. 

When Aaron proceeded to the back to get a few herbs, the loud spoken man seized the opportunity to ask him with the most demeaning tone. 

"You must be the whore who would spread your leg for that crazy bastard". 

The wife was looking at both of them nervously and praying to find a hole made for her to jump in. 

What rang in Gou's head was, "What the fuck?" 

"Who do you think you're calling a man whore?" Gou replied, dripping with irritation . He didn't appreciate being called a slanderer when he was far from it. 

"A live in inside the shop of a psychotic alchemist. You must be fucked well". 

Okay. This was getting offensive, he noted. His hands burnt from a strong clench of his fist. 

This man, he noted, needed to be put in his place. With one leg placed on the chair, he returned the insult with a grin. 

"let me get this straight with you. Number 1, I am bisexual!" he lifted a finger and jarringly argued to leave the guy speechless. 

"Bi what?" 

"See, you don't even know what that is. It means: I do girls and boys alike". Or get done by one, he mentally added. 

"Is that something to be proud of…" the man sniffed like that counted to nothing. 

"Something to be proud of? Tch, I live with that belief. Number two. My ass belongs to Ash Ketchum alone", he lifted his second finger and then smirked. 

"So what? You're just equally psychotic". 

"Huh. You would think that huh? Which brings me to my last point. You sir, are not my type", he said, looking down on the other. 

"You dare to insinuate that I was equally psychotic?" 

"Then why were you admiring my fancy ass huh?" 

They were interrupted by a slight cough. "Please control yourselves. The patient is affected by your unhealthy argument. I'd like to carry out the treatment with just the lady in the treatment lobby", said Aaron. 

"I'll go upstairs. Will you be alright?" Gou asked. 

"Don't worry about it. That man may hates me but he has a complete trust in my ability. Otherwise, he won't be returning to my shop every so often". 

The nameless man snorted and proceeded to walk out to wait at the door. Gou felt a little relieved and went to the room. The treatment went smoothly after that and when it ended, Aaron went upstairs. 

Gou let him in and Aaron chose to lean against the wall.

"Thanks for standing up for me just now", said Aaron. 

"It was no big deal. I can't believe that liking another man is actually something to frown down upon". 

"It is what it is. Then what is it like in the future?"

"Hmm… it's quite well received". 

"Everyone there seems to be understanding". 

"Not everyone. Some are still against it but most of us are okay with it". 

"It's hard to satisfy everybody". 

"Well, that's true". 

Gou saw a window of opportunity when nothing was said between them. He took out the scroll he had kept next to the headboard, a million dollar question now lied in his hand. 

"There is something I've been meaning to ask", his tone was one of the serious one he often used when doing work related stuffs. 

"I see, you've been reading". 

"I can't really read the words. But… I found in this scroll an image that roused my interest", said Gou. 

He undid the tie and showed the image to him. 

"This drawing. I've seen it before in my time. Can you help explain to me about it?" 

"This is the summoning pattern for Enigma, a monster of the underworld where it used the deceased bodies of pokemon and held it by dark magic. Only evil magic practitioners would use it to corrupt the world". 

"That sounds like bad news". 

"But I thought you said there wasn't any magic practitioner in your time". 

"Not that we know of in the open". 

Aaron nodded, acknowledging the underground magic practice possibility. 

"There is a counter spell for it", said Aaron, "but we must look for the ingredients". 

It seemed that he would have to stay for a few more days. If there is anything they needed, it would be a way to stop it. 

"I'm in", Gou said, affirmative. 

\-----

It was difficult to unearth another time flower. Ash had been looking for it everywhere and they even visited the palace who the caretaker had kindly provided them with a place to stay and pardoned them for trespassing the border after his explanation about the situation. 

Kukui and Clemont marvelled at the beauty of the castle and the view of Tree of Beginning from their window. 

"I've heard of it but I never would've guessed that it's this huge", said Clemont. 

"Didn't know you're such an adventurer when you're a boy", Kukui said in awe. 

"Well, it was mostly sightseeing turned south", said Ash. Cinderace helped him lay down a few equipments in his hand. 

"What's that?" 

"It's Professor Cerise energy tracker", said Ash. 

"Oh, neat. What does it do?" Clemont looked at it with admiration. 

"Actually, it's created because of Gou's last year's journal, The study of Energy Vibration of Living Beings. He theorized that every single object has a different reading of energy and Professor Cerise designed this tool based on the calculations he provided".

"Wow, your boyfriend is smart", said Clemont. 

"Yeah, I'm proud of him. That paper won the most downloaded journal award last year. He was bedazzling when he received it". 

"I've read that paper. It contributes a lot in scientific advancement", said Kukui, adding, "Even Burnett was impressed of it". 

"Now then. I'm not much of a theory maker like Gou but… In order to track down that flower, we need to isolate the time flower energy from its surrounding", Ash said. 

"Oh I get what you mean. It's the common energy factor. We are looking for the outlier in the environment most common energy wave", said Clemont, pushing his glasses up. 

"That's actually a smart strategy, Ash. When did you grow up so much?" Kukui teased. 

"Well… Gou tried to understand my way of speaking so I just put more effort to understand him over the years", said Ash bashfully. 

"You really do love him huh?" Kukui pat Ash's head. 

Ash pouted and told him how he wasn't a child anymore. After charging the tracking tool for an hour, Ash paired the tool to a roton tablet and hooked the tablet on a mounting clip on the tracking tool. 

It was already dark out but it didn't stop Ash from starting the search again. He switched it on and walked around the small town within the castle ground. 

They were approaching a gated area with a small building right in the middle of it when Ash realized how the energy line just dipped lower on the chart. 

"It seems there's an interference here", Kukui said, rubbing his chin. "It's interesting how it gives a negative reading instead. Maybe it absorbed energy surrounding it". 

Ash looked at the mansion. It was old and nobody seemed to live in it. "It probably has always been here before".

"This building looks haunted", Clemont shivered at the thought of going inside it. 

"You can wait outside if you want", Ash suggested. 

"No, I prefer it if we stick together", Clemont refuted with a cross chop. They entered the building, making their way to where the energy is the lowest. On their way down, they saw a few paintings on the wall, one of a man and his wife. The man had a sinister look on his face. 

"Lord Caduceus", Ash read the plate. 

"Ah…. I've heard of that name", said Clemont, remembering some information he had read in the history book of criminology, "this man is a serial rapist and killer. When he was alive, he kidnapped at least seven people and had tortured, raped and killed the victims. It was said that he lured them in with his wealthy and rare possessions. When they caught him, he was sentenced to death immediately and his house was forfeited to the treasuries". 

Ash tensed. He hoped that it wasn't the time flower he detected as they descended down inside a trap door Kukui found hidden in the floor. 

"He keeps some of them prisoners inside this very dungeon", Clemont said when he realized where the trap door was leading them too. The atmosphere was grim and Ash felt a heavy heart when he saw a time flower budding in the middle of a cell. 

His feet felt heavy as he approached it and slowly, he hovered his hand over it and watched the past unfold right before his eyes. Kukui and Clemont blinked at the magical sight they were seeing. They were really watching the past and it was like a motion picture. 

There was Gou, standing outside the cell with a key dangling at his side. There was another man whom he had seen before… The painting… this man was Aaron and he was trapped inside the cell with his ankle bound to a chain. 

"I've got us the final ingredient", Gou said, holding what seemed to be a mysterious looking flower. "He wasn't lying when he said he had it in his stupid chamber". 

"Did he… Did he do anything to you?" asked Aaron hesitantly. 

"Don't worry about it. I knocked him out before he can try anything funny", he saw Gou said, clutching the flower closer to his chest. 

While Clemont and Kukui were relieved to hear that, Ash felt a tear ran down his cheek. 

Softly, he muttered. 

"He was lying".


	7. Gaps in the strata of society

Clemont and Kukui had to pull Ash off from the time motion picture as the other clenched and unclenched his fists. 

"Hey, Ash. Calm down. He doesn't look like he's been touched anywhere", Kukui said, as he observed the moving scene of Gou proceeding to unlock Aaron's chain. 

"He didn't but did you see it?" Ash grinded his teeth, its sound can be heard raw against his jaws. 

"Yeah, he broke his ribs", Kukui admitted. It was simple to know with the way Gou was leaning heavily on one side. 

His smile hardly hid the pain he was feeling which had caused Ash to blatantly kick a wall after watching Gou's situation. 

Then the flower wilted and the dungeon was dark again. 

"If I could go back there… I would fucking kill this bastard who touched even a single strand of his hair. The bastard fucked up his ribs. Do you know what that means? He's been fighting it off on his own. And everytime it happens, I can't do jack shit about it". 

"Ash, I think we need to get back to our room. Let's calm you down", Clemont tried to persuade him. Ash never lost himself like this. Sure there were occasions where he would angrily retaliated but he never had ever cursed this much. Then, it must mean that he was really, really angry at this moment. 

"I can't Clemont. I can't just let things happen back there and I risk every minute of having him gone". 

"Okay, you're right. If that's the case, then what do you propose we do?" asked Kukui. 

Ash bit his inner cheeks. The truth was, he hadn't got a clue. Kukui folded his arms, contemplating the options that they had. 

"What we can do is, find more time flowers. We'll bring the information together and predict roughly where they would arrive in and on which day", Kukui said, rubbing Ash back. The young professor's breathing began to even out and he collected the tool he had dropped on the floor when he was acting up on his anger.

Taking a deep breath, he counted to three and stood up. 

"I've calmed down. Let's get out from here. This place has this stench that I hate". 

\-------

Aaron took out an empty scroll, a feather as a pen and a brush. He held the feather between his thumb and index finger. Dipping into the ink, the end of the feather ran into coils of words. 

Gou watched eagerly the way it was performed. 

They just need a list but it'd be a beautiful list. 

"I learnt from a scriber how to write in a line. The position of writing it is very important to keep the writings straight", explained Aaron. 

" _ That scriber was very strict though. Always hitting me on the head if I wrote it wrong _ ", baby Aaron giggled. 

Gou took out his rotom phone and wrote the name of the herbs on his own note app. 

"I've been thinking… what's that in your hand?" asked Aaron curiously. 

"It's a smartphone. Basically a tool that helps us go through everyday's life". 

"Really? How did it stay alive?" 

"I got lucky the rotom can charge it using sunlight".

"Wow… that's interesting. I would have never thought something like this can exist". 

"Shouldn't it?" 

"Magic has been a part of our life that we are so used to it". 

"I can relate to that. It's just that convenient", Gou sighed. 

He then listed the names of the ingredient items they were searching. 

"Ho oh feather". Ho-oh feather? "Okay, so where can we get one if this?" 

"It is hard to tell since Ho oh only existed as a myth in the hearsay. However, it's an essential ingredient and not one to be replaced".

"Me and Ash had been to the bell tower and had seen the feather. One of our childhood companion had it in his possession", said Gou remembering about the bell tower adventure he had in the past. 

"So Ho-oh is actually real", Aaron muttered. 

" _ But I spent my entire life thinking that it was just a story",  _ baby Aaron thought out loud. 

" _ Well, me and Ash had seen it _ ", said Pikachu. " _ On our first day of our journey".  _

" _ I guess there is something to believe after all of these accounts talk about encounters _ ", said baby Aaron. 

"Finding ho oh would be like finding a needle in a haystack", said Aaron. 

"Hmm… Let's put that aside first. What other ingredients do we need?" 

"The pollen dust from Ivysaur. The fire from a Marowak. Fire from a Marowak?"

"Maybe it was talking about the Alolan Marowak". 

"Alolan Marowak?" 

"Alolan Marowak has a bone club that is lit with fire at both of its ends. It's a variation of the commonly found Marowak", explained Gou. 

"And so we have to venture to this Alola Kingdom to find it?" 

"If we cannot find it here, we might have to", said Gou. 

"The last ingredient is a hundred Moon flower that blooms at the peak of Mountain Moon", Aaron read. 

"I've never heard of it", Gou scratched its head. 

"It's a common flower found once a year. Not too difficult to be obtained when it's in season". 

"Then we should be alright?" 

"The main problem is, it's out of season", Aaron sighed and wondered if they were going to obtain any of it. He rolled the list neatly and kept it in his pocket. 

"We can try the slave trading market. It might have what we're looking for", said Aaron, now putting his cape on. 

"S-Slave trading market?" Gou sputtered. 

" _ Is that common in this time? _ " asked Pikachu, equally flabbergasted. 

" _ It's quite an open trading scene and quite common. I think papa ought to be careful when he is there _ ". 

_ "What do you mean? _ " 

" _ Oriental slave is often seen as a luxurious belonging. Lecherous eyes wanders _ ", said Baby Aaron. 

" _ Then he should stay behind! _ " said Pikachu. 

" _ Why don't you give him a warning? _ " asked Baby Aaron at Pikachu. 

_ "If I could talk, I would… Celebi! Tell him he should just stay here". _

_ "Why the heck should I interfere?"  _

_ "Because he is your friend".  _

_ "Forcing me into a ball is not friendship".  _

While the pokemons and the baby were having their own banter, Aaron was contemplating about all the possibilities this could've gone wrong. 

"I think you'll have to sit this one out", Aaron said.

"Huh? Why? I could help you out finding the ingredient. With two people working on it, we'll find the ingredient faster". 

"Um… I think you don't understand. Where I'm heading to is not exactly a safe place for you". 

"And what exactly do you mean by that?" Gou inquired. 

"Let me ask you this. In your future, have you ever been to a slave market?" 

"Enslavement is illegal in my time but I still don't understand what you're trying to say". 

"Then, I'll assume you had never been to one. And you feel strongly about it, don't you not? You disagree at the idea of owning or acquiring a slave", Aaron pointed out. 

"You're right, I do", Gou admitted. 

"Then the market is not a place where you should be in. In this time, slave's market is done out in the open. People trade both humans and pokemons through this method daily. Acquiring one by this means is allowed". 

Aaron said that while looking straight at Gou in the eyes. 

"You might not be able to stomach it and it's dangerous for you to be there. With your unique look, you might attract some unwanted attention". 

"Unique look? I think I look the same like everyone else". 

"Have you seen anyone having your skin colour and oriental face paired together with blue eyes here?" 

Gou couldn't counter the solid argument and held back his argument. The past, like in history books, wasn't always a beautiful place. There was a dark side to it and one of it being the topic of enslavement. 

"I get it. I'll stay here. Geez, you're such a worrywart". 

Aaron nodded and smiled. "Thank you, for trying to understand but before I leave, can you show me the Marowak you were talking about?" 

"Alright, I can help you with at least that much". 

Another fifteen minute was spent on showing the Marowak image to Aaron. The other tried to memorize it and when he was sure he could remember it, Aaron left the shop.

He hoped everything would go smoothly. 

\------

The slave market was in another part of the town where there weren't that many people except for those who really wanted to obtain a slave. There was auctions going on at the same time, some showcasing pokemons, some of humans. 

A lot of the customers put a rather high bid against each other and Aaron decided to wait for the pokemon auctioneers to showcase rare breeds they had yet to see. 

One of the host then announced the pokemon they were putting out for the bidding session. Helpers on the stage were pushing the cage onto the open to show the pokemons. 

It was the twenty fifth pokemon that caught his eyes. "That's the Marowak he was talking about", he mumbled as he watched the Marowak being hit with whip to make him do tricks.

He heard the bidding arena thundered with applause.

"I really don't want to see this", Aaron said. All pokemons and people to him should be a friend. He didn't believe it was fair to treat them like brainless, worthless creatures. 

But, he had a mission in his hand. 

Aaron placed a bid on the said Pokemon, slapping a good number of gold on it. While the auctioners continued to repeat the price, he kept looking around. 

Someone topped his bid with ease and it caught his attention. 

"Caduceus", he muttered heatedly. It was the man who had come to his shop that morning, whom had gotten himself in a verbal fight with Gou that morning. 

"Oh, if it isn't the lunatic?" the man cockily said. 

"I am simply an alchemist. If I were a lunatic, I wouldn't be able to treat your wife". 

"How arrogant. But a lunatic is always one and I have to secure the animal lest it gets disregarded by an unworthy master". 

"Am I but just a humble person in your presence. The fact that he is here means his compassion to free pokemon is a core of his believe".

"They're slaves. They don't need the compassion". 

"I am anything but agreeing. Now if you'll excuse me", Aaron took of from the scene but he wasn't going to let it go easily either. 

He snuck to the carriage that carried all Caduceus' loot and freed not just Marowak but others that were bought that day. The escape didn't go unnoticed and he was pinned down by the surrounding guards. 

Caduceus didn't look too please when he appeared in front of him. 

"Do you really think I would just let this breeze away?" 

"I never dreamt of that", said Aaron. 

"Well, you see I spent a fortune today obtaining all of my goods but you ruined all the fun I was about to have. How are you planning to fix it?" asked Caduceus. 

"Why do I need to serve someone like you". 

"Because those are my gold spent", the man said threateningly. 

"I take it that you don't plan on fixing any of these?" 

"No". 

"Then guards", he commanded, "lock him in the mansion's dungeon. Make sure he repent on his mistake". 

  
  



	8. A time skip to the future

It was past midnight and Gou was still waiting at the shop reception counter. He had helped turned away a few customers, telling them to visit on the next day since the alchemist was out of the shop. With just a gas lamp lighting the shop, the dim light casted shadows behind him and it made the place look a little eerie. 

Pikachu was with the baby in the room. After going about what he now considered a routine, dressing up the baby in medieval cloth, washing his outfit and wore ones that Aaron had lent to him, feeding baby Aaron and putting him to sleep with Pikachu by the baby's side, he couldn't even get a wink of sleep. 

He decided to check out the backyard when he heard a rustling sound. Gou stood up and his senses heightened. 

"Who's there?" he asked and he turned to see behind him when the footsteps clacked with the wooden floor .

"Marowak?" Gou questioned when he saw an Alolan version of a Marowak was face to face with him. The Marowak looked frightened and soon, Gou could understand why. It was being chased by a group of people and they stopped at the shop's front door. 

The door was forced opened with an axe and Gou gulped his saliva.

"Surrender the Marowak to us", one of the men demanded.

"W-What's your business with it?" 

"Business? That Marowak is a property of Lord Caduceus . Return it or you will get hurt badly". 

Gou looked at the Marowak who looked ready to fight through the mob. Gou tried to think. In this situation, what should he do? 

His young self would have given up the Marowak to them. Yet, he grew, hand in hand with the only man he would ever look up to. Ash brought him up when he was down and would never in his power allow anyone to take what was precious to him. 

Then, this Marowak, Gou shall protect it. Simply because Ash woul have done the same. 

"No, I won't let you do anything to it", Gou said, determined to protect it. 

"Maro", the Marowak grabbed hold of its bone club and looked at Gou with similar determination. It seemed the Marowak was determined to fight along with him. 

"If you're not going to give it, then we shall teach you a lesson as well". 

Gou noted how none of them have a pokemon with them. 

"They really think that pokemons are just creatures", Gou muttered. 

"Marowak, leave the instruction to me. You and I, we are a team now", Gou said and Marowak responded with a Maro. 

"Marowak, fire spin", Gou made a call and Marowak twirled its bone club and clashed with the group. When a man tried to restrain it from the back, Gou called for a dodge and Marowak slipped away from the grab. 

It jumped backwards and readied for another fire spin. 

"You looked ready. Alright Marowak, do another fire spin to the right side of the group and then send out a shadow ball. Throw them out of the door", he whispered his instruction. 

Marowak nodded and leaped through the air, its bone thrown like a boomerang, swerving back and hitting the right side. 

Marowak leaped on top of one of the man's head and sent them out with a shadow ball while in the air. 

The group of men were shocked from the way Gou was utilizing Marowak. 

"Why is there a soldier here?" one of them fearfully said, his finger directed at Gou. 

"A soldier?" Gou raised an eyebrow at that. 

"Nobody should be able to command a pokemon like that unless you're a trained soldier!" 

"Well, you should just let him be!" said Gou. 

"Huh! Do you think Lord Caduceus will just let this go easily? He has the control of this kingdom's militia! He'll put you into place just like he did with that lunatic Aaron!" 

Gou's eyebrows scrunched together. "What did you guys do to Aaron?" 

"Huh, wouldn't you like to know!" comes the smug reply. The group of men retreated immediately when Marowak threatened them with a stomp. 

"They must have done something horrible to him!" Gou grunted but he had a baby and Pikachu with him. His mobility now had been limited but rushing things now would only breed more chaos. 

"What should I do?" he scratched his head. 

He went upstairs and waited until morning came. 

\-------

"Oi", the dungeon guard came with a food tray. "Here is some food. You better eat this". 

"It's fine, I'm not hungry". 

"Look alchemist sir, I have great respect of you and that's why, I only deliver light torture on you. You've given us hope a lot of time. This is my only way to thank you". 

"Then you have my gratitude. But", when he came in there, he could see a number of pokemons and slaves being mistreated. Consuming the food in front of them would be too cruel. 

"But I cannot ignore their sufferings", he said, continuing his words. 

"There isn't much one could do about their situation", the guard sighed. 

Then, a change of it was what he wished for. 

\-------

When Gou woke up and walked to the shop's counter, a boy came running into the shop carrying an envelope with him. 

"Mister, I have a letter for you".

"For me?" 

"It's from Lord Caduceus".

\-------

"Celebi, come out", Gou threw the pokeball in the air and Celebi came out, floating between the shelves before coming close to Gou. 

"Yes, what do you want?" it asked. 

"Good morning Celebi", Gou patted its head gently. 

"Hm?" Celebi hummed suspiciously. "It can't be you just call me out because you want to touch my head?" 

" _ Onion head _ ", Pikachu corrected him. Celebi ignored him and focused on studying Gou's intention. 

"Ne, Celebi", Gou pushed an envelope towards it.

"What is this?" asked Celebi, poking at the envelope. 

"It's an errand list. Um, I know this will be asking a lot but can you deliver this to Ash?" 

"Hmm? Aren't you going back to the future?" 

"I still have a couple of things to do here. Please come back for me once he retrieved the items I have asked for. It's written in there". 

"Wait a minute!" Celebi stopped him when it noticed another scroll right next to Gou. "So, what's this?" 

"It's a letter of a challenge invitation", Gou said. 

"Letter of…what?" Celebi's eyes widened. 

"This morning, a messenger came to the shop bringing this letter. He even helped me out at reading it. Their lord seems to want to settle some score with me".

"Seriously… hey are you even going to be alright with just a Morpeko, Dewgong and Marowak?"

"I can't say for sure but I know I have to win this". 

"There must be a reward or… an exchange of a deal…" 

Usually a duel only happened when both sides agreed on something. "Well… if I win this, I can ask for anything that I want". 

"And if you lose?" 

"I lost my freedom?" 

Celebi gasped when Pikachu also gasped. 

" _ I didn't know about that part of this deal!"  _ the electric mouse said, touching its face in worry. 

" _ Then why the hell aren't you going with him?"  _ asked Celebi. 

" _ Because I have to make sure the baby is safe inside the room until he returns!"  _

_ "Then why don't I just bring the baby over to the future, then you can go with him?"  _

_ "Actually, you know what? That's smart. Please do that".  _

"Okay. The electric mouse has agreed to accompany you to the duel". 

" _ The name is Pikachu!"  _

"But Pikachu will be looking after Baby Aaron". 

"No, this Ash is going to look after baby Aaron. I mean it's time for him to look after him since you have things to be done too". 

"If he's here, he'd gladly do it with me". 

Celebi flew around Gou. "Oho, you have fallen so deep for this Ash lad. Making that face… You missed him that much?" 

"You've no idea how right you are". 

"Then all the more reason to bring this mouse", Celebi showed him Pikachu like a salesman showing people a showroom car. 

"Give me the envelope", Celebi took it from Gou. A ray of light encircled it and Gou watched it in awe, waving his hands to both Celebi and Baby Aaron.

"Please wait for me, both of you", was what Celebi heard from Gou before it entered the time portal. 

Flying through the time passage, Celebi focused on a sound that could help it lead them back to the right future. 

Then it heard the sound of an angry man kicking something hard. It distracted him and it was thrown out of the passage. Before the baby received impact from the fall, it used levitation on the baby. 

"Huh…. We're… We're a few days forward from the supposed future", Celebi took note of its surrounding. This meant that on his next travel , it should be after the current date. 

It wondered where they were. They were inside the room but it could be in any of the rooms anywhere in the world. 

It hoped it was at a nearby location to where Ash was or it would have trouble finding him. Spending that much time will offset the days in the future more and who knew what could happen?

The mythical pokemon flew and stayed hidden with the baby behind the curtain when the door was opened. 

Three adult men walked into the room with one carrying a tool in his hand. 

"Hey Ash, you want some tea?" 

"I'd like some too, Professor Kukui", the blond man said, looking exhausted. 

"Okay, I'll make tea for everyone". 

So one of them had a name Ash. Celebi peeked from the side but the moving noise set the other three on alert. 

"Hey, why is there a bulge in the curtain?" Celebi heard footsteps approaching. Inside, he was panicking. The man swept the curtain to the side and was appalled with what he had found. 

"A celebi?" and then the man lowered his gaze at the floor. 

"Aaron", he kneeled and picked up the baby. "Then Gou…" 

Hearing the name, Celebi instantly connected the dots. "You're Ash!" 

"Huh?" 

"Listen", it pushed an envelope on Ash's chest. It need to be said quickly so they could finish things quickly and brought back Gou to where he was supposed to be. 

"I bring to you a message from Gou". 


	9. Balancing the Past

There were three messages written in the paper. Ho-oh feather and Ivysaur pollen dust were the first two. The last message warmed his heart : I missed you. He gave it a kiss - the letter was the only one thing that connected him and Gou at the moment and he felt warm inside knowing that Gou always thought about him no matter where he was. 

Ash had put baby Aaron in a new change of diaper and was using his own leg tucked into a fold as a temporary baby crib. He lightly bounced his knees to lull baby Aaron to sleep and the baby didn't seem to be hungry. It was perhaps between now and where they came from was only an hour or two by calculation. 

Celebi sat across him and was slightly amused by how the baby seemed very comfortable with the other. 

"Gou wants me to find these ingredients and for what reason?" asked Ash. 

"The only thing I know about it is to stop the monster that you had seen the other day", said Celebi through telepathy. Ash didn't seem surprise of it as if it wasn't the first time he communicated this way. 

Ash seemed to be understanding of what Gou wanted to do. It was a crisis and if it were up to him, he would do the same too. 

"How soon can you travel back in time?" asked Ash. 

"I have to charge my energy for a full day before trying another time jump". 

"Then, we should use tomorrow as a day to find the items he wanted in the list". 

"You know where to get them?" 

"I have some idea". The reactions he got from Kukui and Clemont were priceless. When he showed Aaron to them, Kukui wiped his forehead with a napkin, muttering that he was too young to be a grandfather. He had a cute clothing on from the past and Ash couldn't help but to coo at the baby. 

Aaron seemed to appreciate it as he giggled at the funny faces he was making. Kukui then decided to grab some baby stuffs after claiming that he had more experience than anyone there while Clemont went downstairs to grab some dinner for all of them from the convenience store. 

"Is it far to get it?" asked Celebi. 

"Well… It's not too far from this kingdom. On a Corviknight, if by fly, it'll take less than two hours to get there". 

"Then we should be able to gather all the items quickly", Celebi nodded. Conversing with Ash seemed easier - what a man, he thought. Ash, to it, held this charisma that stood out a lot. 

It won't be a surprise if his pokemon would want to follow him. 

Kukui and Clemont returned with their shopping items at the same time. 

"There is only one place opened at this hour so we ended up getting everything from there", said Clemont. 

"Wow, look at that. He seemed to like you a lot", said Kukui, watching closely the baby's sleeping face. 

"Well, I realized how a deep sleeper he is. Much like me". 

"He certainly is. Look, he even has your facial structure", said Clemont. 

"Well, his birth circumstances may have played an important role as well". 

"What do you mean?" Clemont asked. 

"According to Gou, he is created from both of us. I am not too clear on the details though but a Jirachi was involved". 

"Really? Well, not to worry! The future is now! With my invention, we can unravel the mystery with my latest invention, the DNA Analyzer!" Clemont's robot hand took out what seemed to be a small tablet. 

"Wow, man. That looks cool!" Ash whipped his head at the small item introduction.

"Okay, to prove that this child is yours, let me scan a strand of your hair", Clemont pulled a strand from Ash and put it on the tablet's scanner. Then he took a small strand of Aaron's hair, the baby hardly moving and put it on the scanner screen after saving Ash's one. 

The software calculated the percentage and it came to 65% match. 

"Oh wow, he really is your son, Ash!" Clemont gasped. His machine had been tested so many times and it was extremely an accurate analyzer. He doubted the result was a glitch. 

"Did you…?" Kukui looked at him suspiciously. 

"A baby doesn't just happen overnight like Aaron and Gou was there the whole time. And no I did not cheat if that's what you're worried about". 

"It was just a question", Kukui said, scratching his temple. 

"But I'm glad. I'm glad that he was born from us", Ash smiled gently. 

"It's some mythical thing", said Clemont and Kukui agreed. 

"Speaking of which, I might need help from the both of you", said Ash. 

"Oh, did something come to light?" asked Kukui. 

"There are two things that I need to find. Ho oh feather and Ivysaur dust pollen", said Ash. 

"Ho oh feather?" asked Kukui. 

"Yes. I know where I can obtain one and I hope you can help me find the Ivysaur pollen dust", said Ash. 

Kukui and Clemont stood tall in front of him. 

"I'm glad that you ask because I am always ready to help you out, my friend!" said Clemont.

"I can never leave you alone when you need my help", Kukui smiled. 

"I hope I am not troubling you". 

"You're my hero, Ash. You've helped me gather courage to become stronger when we were on a journey together", Clemont said. 

"And you're my little hero too. Let us return you the favour". 

Ash wondered what made him deserve such good friends. 

"Thank you everyone", he said, grinning. 

\--------

Corviknight crossed the mountains with ease, its wings spanned across with strength. Once in a while, either Gou or him would be brushing its feather and it shone under the sunlight a beautiful jet black colour. 

The baby was safely tucked in a special baby carrier bag designed for flying with a pokemon, one that he got from the store. 

It was kind of pricey but useful for a pair like him. 

Cinderace had to be convinced to stay in a ball earlier that morning. While at first it didn't like the idea, it was more against of the idea being left behind in the hotel room. With a little cooperation, it went inside the ball for the ease of travel. 

They went to separate directions to find the item needed. 

"Where are we going?" asked Celebi, latching tightly on Ash's shoulder. 

"To the Acruteak City", said Ash. The headwind could've hurt his eyes if it wasn't for his goggles. 

"So there is a feather of Ho oh there?" 

"Well…"  _ I'm about to commit a crime, wonderful _ . 

The truth was, this wasn't going to go down without an act of grave robbery. After the death of Jiei and the pokemon Hoot hoot, his grandson had buried the feather together with the pokemon. 

He could've asked Kuriei if he could take it from the pokemon's grave but in the memory of his grandfather, Ash doubted that it would go smoothly. 

"If it's a human grave, I would probably be arrested", he mumbled to himself. 

"Is something the matter?" asked Celebi. 

"No… Nothing", Ash said. They crossed Johto border and after 30 minutes of illegally drifting the sky above it, they arrived at a park nearby the graveyard. 

"We'll get in trouble if the officer caught us here", Ash said and recalled Corviknight into its pokeball. Looking around, he made his way into the graveyard gate, with Celebi closely following. 

"The thing is, there's a lot of graves here and it would be a heck of a search inside it", he moaned, looking at all the tombstones lining the area. 

"Hello there", he asked a visitor. 

"Hello to you too. Would you like to ask something?" the visitor asked. 

"I'm looking for my friend's pokemon grave but I'm not sure how to find it", said Ash. 

"Don't worry. There's a monument wall in the center. It has the location of each of the pokemon you're looking for", the visitor said, pointing at the wall infrastructure in the middle. 

"Thanks. You're a big help". He went to the wall monument and could see thousands of names of pokemons and their owners. He looked for Jiei's name and while he was scrutinizing the names, a flash of purple light caught his attention. 

"What's that?" he went to the place he saw it. 

It was at the earlier number of the register and Ash felt his blood went cold. 

"Here lies Pikachu, owner Goh… Hey, Celebi, what's the meaning of this?" asked Ash, his voice stiffed. 

"I don't know. How should I know?" Celebi replied. 

Immediately, he took out his smartphone and called Professor Cerise. After a few seconds of waiting on a dial tone, he got through. 

"Hey Professor, good day", he greeted over the phone. 

"Hi Ash, how're you doing?" he asked back. 

"I'm sorry for being rude but I'm in a bit of a hurry and would like to ask you something". 

"Sounds critical. Ask away". 

"Professor, Goh is trapped in the past right now with Pikachu. I'm currently at a graveyard and just now, a flash of light happened and I am able to see his name and Pikachu on the grave monument wall". 

"Did a Celebi bring him there?" asked Professor Cerise. 

"Yes but what does it mean?" 

"You're asking about why his name is appearing on the grave monument wall, am I to believe that?" 

"Yes". 

"Then this might be bad news. What I think is happening is time is trying to fix the disturbance, in this case, Gou's existence in the past timeline", said Professor Cerise, explaining his theory to Ash. 

"How much time do I have to bring him back?" 

"It's more of a question how long can he stay there before the future completely changes", said Professor Cerise. 

"And according to your calculation, how long would that be?" 

"Another two days at max". 

"Thank you, Professor", said Ash and ended the call. Focusing with the task at hand he searched for the name he was looking for.

"Jiei had three of his pokemons buried here. Lot 609 is where Hoot hoot is". Then they were faced with another challenge if finding the lot number. After spending two hours looking for it, he finally found it. 

He called Gengar and the Pokemon came out from the ball. "Gengar, I need you to retrieve Ho-oh's feather inside this grave". 

Gengar giggled and went inside the tomb. A few minutes later, it reappeared again, handing Ash the feather he was looking for. 

The escape from Johto went surprisingly smooth. Corviknight flew with great speed to the Kingdom of Rota. 

When he arrived at the place they were staying, Kukui and Clemont were already inside the room looking all haggard. 

"We had some tough time chasing after an Ivysaur", said Clemont. 

"But here it is, the pollen dust you wanted", Kukui handed it over to Ash. 

Ash took it and thanked them. Then he turned to Celebi. 

"Celebi, bring me to the past where Gou is". 

\---------

"Argh!" Gou landed flat on his chest when the Steelix whipped an iron tail at Pikachu's own iron tail. The impact of the iron tail was not only being sent to Pikachu but also to him. 

He could feel his rib cage breaking. 

"This pokemon battle is brutal", he muttered, trying to hold in the pain. And to make things worse, there wasn't any rule that a pokemon couldn't attack the trainer. 

When the Steelix used iron tail again at Pikachu that was already hurting a lot from the previous impact, Gou leaped from his position to pull Pikachu to the side. 

"Pikachu, I'm sorry. Can you still battle?" Gou asked. 

"Pika", Pikachu answered with determination. 

"Alright, fake a 100000 volt thunderbolt the Steelix then, whip up an electroweb at the trainer". 

It was the only way to win the duel. To take out the trainer. 

Gou can understand where the tradition of a pokemon battle came from in the kingdom. It was a military practice that happened in this present. 

"Go, Pikachu!" Gou instructed and Pikachu pulled off a feint attack and then fake a 100000 volt thunderbolt. Then it used Steelix's head as a springboard and generated an electroweb, targeting the attack to the trainer. 

"Steelix's trainer is unable to battle", the moderator announced. 

"Don't be too happy yet. That's only the second win. You have another two soldiers to win against", Lord Caduceus spoke from his lounge. 

"Do you really think I won't be able to?" Gou spat at him but he restraint from moving too much. 

Physically, he was already pushing above his limit. The first battle against a Charmender had hurt his Dewgong so bad eventhough they won it. He also had his arms scraped from a lot of dodging of an incoming attack by the Charizard. 

"Both of you, this battle, it'll be a pair battle", commanded the lord. 

"You can't do that! THIS IS A SOLO!" Gou disputed. 

"Did I say that it can only be a solo battle?" 

"I am the only player in my field. It's unfair!" 

"Then, ask the soldiers in the audience. Who would like to help him, please come forward", said the lord but none of the soldiers stepped forward to help him. 

Gou looked around, hoping that somebody would be symphatizing his situation. 

Except they all were grinning. 

He was crestfallen until a man in a hood walked forward to take the center of the battleground. 

"Let me fight with you", he said and the man took his hood off. 

Gou wanted to cry right then and there. He had thought that all hope would be gone if he had to fight this alone. He felt a burden lifted and Pikachu regained some of its energy at the presence of said man. 

"Pika!" it hopped onto the man's shoulder. 

"Hey there buddy!" the said man greeted it, giving it potion and while at it, gave Gou his widest grin. 

"Speechless?" asked Ash. 

"You got me there", nodded Gou, holding back the urge to hide behind Ash. Right now, he had to stand his turf. The battle was still continuing and he had to play his part to win this. 

"You're injured. I'm sorry that I'm late", Ash apologized and took out a painkiller spray and band aid. 

"Come here", he urged Gou to come closer, told him to open his shirt and wrapped the band aid to support the broken part. 

He sprayed on the area and Gou put his shirt back on after that. 

"How did Celebi manage to bring you here at this exact time?" asked Gou. 

"The moment it is able to teleport back, I gave it a choice band and used it to increase accuracy of its time jump. I arrived a few minutes into the battle", Ash explained. 

"The baby?" 

"With Professor. Kukui". 

Then he cracked his knuckle. "That Steelix really did aim at you. I'm not that forgiving". 

"Are you done?" the lord asked with a bored tone. 

"I'm gunna kick your ass into the deepest level of hell", Ash said, Pikachu perching on his shoulder. 

"Here you go", Ash tossed a pokeball at Gou. 

Gou called out to Cinderace and the rabbit pokemon came out, angered to see how heavily injured Gou was. 

"Alright team, you ready?" Ash asked after helping Gou to stand up. 

"Am always ready", Gou said. 

"Then let's go!" 

  
  
  



	10. Another new beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Planning to make a new sequel from this. 😅 Hope it goes well once it's written.

Kukui blinked when the baby patted his nose lightly. "I think we are coming to a mutual understanding. Don't you just love having the coolest grandfather in town?" 

" _ You'd be a nice grandfather. I never had one in the past but you do look old enough to be my grandad",  _ Aaron said. 

"Aw, he cooed back to talk to me. Did you see that? We are conversing", Kukui excitedly said to Clemont. 

"Hmm.. I'm curious at what he is saying. Maybe I should make a tool to translate baby's language like I did that one time with pokemon".

"Well, I don't think babies are complex being", Kukui laughed. 

" _ Well, I do think a little differently than when I was an adult. Like right at this very moment. I wonder if both of my parents are going to return. I feel like I missed them".  _

"Aw… He looks a little upset".

"When Bonnie was smaller, she used to feel upset because she missed our parents. Maybe that's what Aaron is feeling". 

Kukui cradled the baby close to him. "Yeah, I hope they'll be alright". 

It never crossed his mind that Ash would recklessly ask to be transported to the past timeline. Eventhough the Celebi was against it since it might get them to the wrong point which could cause a lot more damage than fixing it, Ash was adamant and coherent in his request. 

He'd rather try than letting fate decide. Even going as far as using a choice band to increase the Celebi's accuracy. 

"I hope he'll be okay", Clemont said worriedly. 

"Hey, it's Ash. He'll be alright", said Kukui. 

The baby sleepily yawned and it must be a tiring day for him too, seeing how easy it was for him to fall asleep. 

Baby Aaron hoped that Gou and Ash would return soon. 

\-------

Gou and Ash found themselves facing opponents who were using Blaziken and Swampert. Gou directed his rotom smartphone at the two pokemons. It listed a possible movesets that could be learned by the pokemons. 

"Blast burn and counter would be a damaging combination", said Gou to Ash, letting him know of his assessment . 

"What's the rule for this battle?" asked Ash to the hungry looking lord. Ash caught him looking at Gou in a manner that angered him but he kept his emotional outrage in check. 

"You can attack any of the pair at any given time. Put up a good show before your own very defeat", the lord cackled. 

"Pikachu checks on Swarmpert but it is a bulky pokemon", said Ash, "And Pikachu's other move would be Electroweb which needs to be charged. Electric shock would give a good amount of stabs". 

"Cinderace can use protean to match up to Swarmpert".

"Means he can tank it", said Ash, "hmm on second thought, use the protean on Thunder Punch and then effectively try to take Swarmpert out with Thunder Punch and High Jump Kick". 

"Sounds like a plan but how do we deal with Blaziken?" 

"Well, I'm going to use this", Ash flashed a familiar looking z-crystal. 

"Electrium Z?" 

Ash nodded. "Since there's no rule to stop me from using this in the battle, I'm going to use it. It'll boost us against the typing, right buddy?" 

Pikachu replied with its own Pika. 

"Alright, then we'll take the Swarmpert out", said Gou, pumping his hands, ready to battle. 

"Be careful. You might not feel the pain but you're injured", said Ash. 

Then he gave Gou a quick jaw dropping kiss from the audience in the room. He pulled the most smug look he could muster. 

The message was clear: Gou is his and his alone. 

"Make sure you finish them off, especially the man over there who decided to stain a valuable item", the lord ordered. 

"Really? An item? Unfortunately, I don't like the sound of that at all", Ash said, adjusting his cap until the shadow casted over his face as he said so. 

"Take me down if you can. I will make sure not a single strand of his hair touched by your filthy finger". 

Gou couldn't help but to grin. "Really. I'm not a kid anymore you know. I'm not going to lose easily". 

"Let's go Pikachu", and at the announcement, the battle officially started. 

"Blaziken, use Hone claws", the soldier commanded. Blaziken used hone claws to increase its accuracy. 

"Cinderace, use Thunder Punch", Gou said, directing Cinderace to attack Swarmpert. The first Thunder Punch didn't connect and Swarmpert went for a water pulse. 

And yet, the move did nothing. "What's happening?" the people in the room looked at Cinderace in confusion. 

"Surprise? Your Swarmpert is going down when this connects", said Gou. "Hi jump kick", Gou called, careful not to use any fire moves. 

Cinderace bounced and dove right at the target. Swarmpert was unable to dodge and was thrown across the field. 

"Swarmpert, unload a surf", the soldier sent the next command. Then he used the chance to launch forward to land a punch on Gou. 

Before that could happen, he received a kick on the hips from Ash. 

"Didn't I tell you? You're not touching anything on my guy", Ash narrowed his eyes at the man. 

The kick hurt the soldier who scrammed away to the other side of the field. 

"Pikachu, spin and iron tail the Blaziken!" once he was sure no harm would be done on Gou, he returned to his own battle. 

Cinderace was able to dodge the surf. Returning to Gou's side, the two of them assessed the best thing to do. 

"Fake another Hi jump kick and then swap the move to Thunder Punch", said Gou. 

Cinderace nodded and then load a spring jump that imitated the move but in actuality, it was loading a Thunder Punch. 

The soldier falsely read the attack and Thunder Punch connected. 

"Swarmpert is unable to battle. The win goes to Gou". 

In the meantime, Pikachu was fervently dodging fire spin moves from the Blaziken. Ash was pressing for loopholes that would allow him to secure a victory. 

"Alright Pikachu, quick attack, build that speed and then be ready for an Iron tail", he said. Pikachu increased its speed as it ran forward and swiped a quick attack on Blaziken, which caused it to flinch, and then used Blaziken's back as a springboard to leap higher. 

Eventhough Pikachu's feet burnt a little, it managed to swipe an iron tail to send the Blaziken towards the ground.

"Now Pikachu. Use electroweb!" Pikachu formed the web and trapped the Blaziken within it. 

Meanwhile, Ash was defending himself from an incoming assault from the soldier who was now aiming his attack solely at him, given that Blaziken was paralyzed. 

"You have to be kidding me. How can you be blocking my heavy attacks?" 

"Let me show you what I can do with my punch. I carried a Larvitar before and sent a fucking tree flying. Don't underestimate me", said Ash with a deadly eye contact. 

Then he landed a blow in the soldier's guts. It sent him staggering backwards but was not enough to take him out. The man had some endurance and Ash gave him that. 

The Blaziken was close to freeing itself from the electroweb. 

"Now's our chance buddy", said Ash. 

Gou watched from the sideline as Ash performed the opening gestures of the Z-Moves. 

"Electrium Z Gigavolt Havoc!" and the two synced and sent a massive electric wave at the soldier and his Blaziken. The amount of energy surged out from the two of them caused the room to ride the impending doom in utter silence. 

"Possessive partner won the battle", said the moderator when Ash knocked them out cold. 

"You didn't even give them your name", Gou joked around. 

"Well, that's fine", said Ash. 

Lord Caduceus opened and closed his mouth like a Magikarp. 

"Now you promised that if I won this battle, you are going to let me claim anything", said Gou. 

"Make that two because it's a pair. One for each", Ash said. 

The lord fearfully looked at the two. 

"Okay, state what you want". 

\-------

The first thing Gou asked was the Hundred Moon Flower. The lord called a slave to retrieve it. 

The second one was to free Aaron from his holding. The lord allowed Gou to go to the dungeon where Aaron was being locked up while Ash waited upstairs to make sure nobody would try to harm them. 

It made sense to Ash what he had seen from the time flower. He would be there except he won't be in view. 

Once the three of them were escorted to leave the mansion's ground, they headed back to Aaron's shop. 

On the way, Ash introduced himself to Aaron. They exchanged stories about the battle and how Ash arrived at the timeline. 

When they arrived at the shop, Aaron searched for the scroll that had the content of the spell he needed. They had a Marowak to give the fire, the pollen dust from Ivysaur, the Hundred Moon Flower and Ho oh's feather in which Aaron admired the way it looked. 

"Forgive me Jiei", Ash said, clasping his hands to pay respect. 

"Hm.. The spell will require the brew to sit for a few days", Aaron read it. 

"I guess we'll just stay longer?" asked Gou. 

Only this time, he was countered with ash grip on his wrist. 

"What's going on?" Gou asked. 

"Do you mind if we have a private conversation for a minute?" asked Ash. 

"Go ahead. You can talk at the back", Aaron said. 

Then Ash pulled Gou to follow him to the back. "Hey, Ash what's up?" 

"Look Gou, I think you can't stay here any longer than tomorrow", said Ash. 

"What do you mean?" 

"Weird thing is happening in the future and I can't even explain to you well about it. But Professor Cerise said your time here is limited and you need to go back to our present". 

"Then what about the thing that we've been working for? We need this to stop that monster". 

"We don't even know much about it. Don't you think there are a lot of things we need to learn about it?" 

"I know that. I know that but if only we can have a proper solution to it". 

Ash gave it a thought. "What if I stay behind and wait for him to complete it?" 

"I'm here for less than four days and weird thing had been happening in our present and you want to stay behind? Fuck no Ash. If I'm going back then you are too", Gou argued. 

"Alright. We both will go back", said Ash. 

"As long as we stick with each other". 

"Yeah".

When they return to the front, they told Aaron what they had agreed on. Aaron nodded in understanding. If it caused more harm to stay in the past, then they should be heading home instead. 

"But it can still be done", said Aaron. He took a wooden chest and placed the items inside it, together with the scroll that carried the method to make the solution. 

Then, he casted a simple time preserving magic on it. After the glow dissipated from his hands, he looked at the two adults and said, "inside this box holds the method to make the solution. The item will be protected during the travel back to the future. Once you arrived there, you must find someone who is capable to make it". 

"Thank you Aaron for putting up with my request", said Gou. 

"The future is important for you too just as now to me", said Aaron. There are a lot of things to be done to achieve the peace described by Gou. 

"Then tomorrow, we'll say goodbye properly", said Ash. 

"Then, let me prepare a good meal for all of us", said Aaron and he went to the back to start preparing dinner. 

\-------

Baby Aaron looked at the wall while Kukui and Clemont were both passed out on the bed in weird position after getting too drunk to even speak. 

There weren't anybody else there except for them and he could cry now and Kukui would just roll to his side to tap an empty side. 

Then he saw it, a tiny ripple in the air movement and from it, bodies appeared. He first saw Pikachu, then Gou, then Cinderace and then Ash. Celebi was the last one to appeared. 

" _ All of you made it back! _ " Baby Aaron cheered. 

Pikachu leaped onto the bed and snuggled their cheeks together. " _ Welcome back, Pikachu!"  _

" _ Am I glad to see you again!"  _ said Pikachu. Baby Aaron rubbed Pikachu's cheek. 

Then he wanted to thank Celebi but Celebi suddenly fell from where it was floating. But before it landed on the floor, Ash readily captured it.

"I think we need to bring Celebi to Pokemon center", said Ash worriedly. 

"Let's go", said Gou. Before he left, he rubbed Pikachu's back. 

"Watch baby Aaron for us", he said. 

"Pika!" 

" _ I hope Celebi would be alright _ ", said Baby Aaron. 

" _ Yeah, me too _ ". 

\----------

When Celebi arrived at the pokemon center, it was brought immediately into the emergency room. According to Nurse Joy, its energy was being drained by an overly taxing travel and thus, weakened it. 

"Please be alright, Celebi", Gou whispered, borrowing Ash's shoulder to seek comfort. 

\--------

Celebi recovered a few days later.

Kukui and Clemont went separate ways to return to their hometown after sharing the most heart warming goodbyes. Again and again they all would depart but their friendships will forever last. 

On the back of Corviknight, they flew back to their own too. 

There was so much to share with their parents and the best surprise for them was the arrival of a new addition to their family. 

"Now what's left is to do that thing earlier before this chaos begun", Gou said, hugging Ash from behind. 

"Yeah, you and me, we'll build the perfect home together", said Ash. 

With their latest addition to the family, they welcomed a new future for them and their pokemon families.

The chest remained in Gou's bagpack waiting for the day for it to be opened. 


End file.
